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BY 

PERCY VERE 



THE 

Bbbcy press 

PUBLISHERS 

114 

FIFTH AVENUE 

XonDon NEW YORK Montreal 






THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

AUG. 8 1901 

Copyright entry 

CLASS <X.XXc. N». 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1901, 

by 

THE 

Bbbes press 






TO 
MY PARENTS 

William an& Virginia. 



NOTICE. 



" If there's a hole in all your coats, 
I rede ye tent it. 
A chiel's amang ye takin' notes, 
An' faith he'll prent it." 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. Self-Knowledge. — Reveals faults. Awakens 
powers. Discovers talents. Overcomes narrow- 
ness and fanaticism. Gives key to character 8 

II. Social Intercourse. — Curiosity. Enlargement of 
the cranium. Gossip. Faultfinding. Pessimism. 
Envy. Super- Sensitiveness. Obstinacy 24 

III. Citizenship. — Bribery of voter and legislator. 

Partizanship produced by prejudice and profit. 
Indifference caused by business and political cor- 
ruption 55 

IV. Church. — Congregational boss. Straining at gnats. 

Minister's sixth sense. Sleepy service. Other- 
worldliness. Convention Craze. Inhospitality. . 73 
V. Preacher's Education. — Knowledge of human 
nature. Organization of facts and truths. Faults 
of style : Purposeless preaching, Pointless plati- 
tudes, Parableless expression. Faults of delivery : 
Painful pronunciation, Holy tone, Pompous man- 
ner and stentorian voice. Characteristics of true 

eloquence : Directness and sympathy 97 

VI. Home. — Home-life decreasing. Parental indiffer- 
ence. Parental indulgence. Inconsistency of 
manner. Decadence of family worship 119 

3 



4 Contents. 

PAGE 

VII. Success. — Procrastination. Indecision. Dissipa- 
tion. Immobility. Incompletion. Vacillation. 138 
VIII. Self-Control. — True greatness. Desires, man's 
motive power. Taste, conscience and common 
sense, his guiding power. Will, his governing 
power. Self-control consists in* will governing 
thought, desire, word and deed 161 



PREFACE. 



A MIRROR is a revealer. Like a true friend, 
instead of concealing it tells us our faults. 
Stand before one, and it holds up in reflection 
our counterpart and enables us to see ourselves 
as others see us. It is the umpire of the toilet 
and without regard to fear or favor tells the 
plain, unvarnished truth, although unpleasant 
it may be. Perhaps no other article of house- 
hold furniture is more essential or more con- 
sulted than the looking-glass. It is on duty 
from morning till night, and like a lackey ever 
stands ready to tell its mistress how she looks. 

Like little George of ancient fame it cannot 
tell a lie, but faithfully points out threads of 
silver 'mong the gold and wrinkles 'neath the 
rouge. It speaks unflatteringly and plainly 
and truly tells us all our faults, and yet despite 
this disagreeable trait we use it fifty times a 
day and tenderly love it still. 

Now what the looking-glass is to face and 
form, the magic mirror is to word and action, 

5 



6 Preface. 

It is manufactured out of that rare material 
called self-knowledge, and is seldom found ex- 
cept in the mental chambers of the wise. Few 
people enjoy the luxury of this reflector and 
are ignorant of the priceless revelations it can 
make. We may have the gift of prophecy and 
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, 
but if we know not ourselves, it profiteth little. 
Burns uttered a universal petition when he 
said, 

" Oh,wad some power the giftie gie us 
To see ourselves as ithers see us, 
It wad frae monie a blunder free us 
And foolish notion." 

So it would. If in some strange way each 
was enabled to see himself through his neigh- 
bor's eyes, a wonderful reformation would im- 
mediately begin. Mankind would take a day 
off for housecleaning, and there would be such a 
scrubbing up of faults, such a sweeping out of 
idiosyncrasies and such a burning up of follies 
and foibles as to excite wonder and amazement 
among the astronomers of neighboring spheres. 
In a month's time this tenement of clay would 
be swept and garnished, and thoroughly refitted 
and refurnished. From a fox-den it would be 
transformed into a dove-cote, and made a suit- 
able dwelling-place for the immortal spirit. Its 



Preface. 7 

airs of gait and dress and blunders and foolish 
notions would soon be gone and its little faults 
all be displaced by little graces. 

Now I do not presume to have the power to 
gie this giftie. I have no sovereign ointment 
that will open the eyes of the thoughtless and 
prejudiced and enable them to see. What I 
have is a magic mirror designed to reflect the 
oddities and imperfections of people in different 
spheres of life. Or, in other words, I have a 
few little mischievous foxes, caught in vine- 
yards here and there, which I wish to exhibit 
for your inspection. Most of them are mine, 
caught while gnawing my own vines, but if 
you find among them any bearing your mark, 
you are welcome to appropriate them. If the 
exhibition of my pets will enable you to detect 
yours, in case you have any, I shall feel amply 
repaid for the trouble. 

And now with kindness towards all and 
" malice aforethought " towards none, I send 
this little volume on its mission ; hoping that 
those who have hitherto been beholding them- 
selves in a glass darkly and here see face to 
face will not give themselves away by undue 
words or warmth, but will quietly wear any 
shoe that fits or adopt any fox that's theirs. 

Percy Vere. 



AS ITHERS SEE US. 



SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 

" EXAMINE YOURSELVES." 

In this little book I want to introduce you 
to a distinguished stranger, and that stranger 
is yourself. Knowledge as well as charity 
should begin at home. It is supremely impor- 
tant that we should occasionally step within 
the veil of personal life and renew our acquaint- 
ance with its mysterious occupant. Above all 
others we ought to know the one with whom 
we eat and work and stud)/, in whose compan- 
ionship we are continually. For we have more 
to do with him than with anybody else, we 
are responsible for his words and actions, he is 
the one person on this mundane sphere com- 
mitted especially to our care, and surely we 
ought to know him. 

But the truth of the matter is we do not. 

9 



io As Ithers See Us. 

We and ourselves as a general thing are 
scarcely speaking acquaintances. We have 
been going about together for a number of 
years, and yet self is an utter stranger to most 
of us now. According to our idea he is the 
best person in the world. No one occupies 
quite so high a position in our estimation. 
While we criticise and condemn our neighbors 
and search our brother's eyes for motes, we 
pat ourselves lovingly on the backs and thank 
the Lord we are not like other people. Then, 
on the contrary, while we regard our compan- 
ions as strong and able to do great things, we 
distrust our own ability, shrink from opportu- 
nity, and effeminately say, " There is no use to 
try, we can't. " 

Now the object of this study is to draw aside 
the curtain of conceit and diffidence, give us 
a peep into the sanctum of self, and make us 
acquainted with both its weaknesses and 
powers. Here we come face to face with the 
invisible forces and realities of life; with all the 
hidden springs of human action. Here we find 
the causes of our unhappiness and failure, and 
such knowledge leads us speedily to seek the 
proper remedies. Here we find the explanation 
of many of the mysteries of our being, and thus 
have the key to the words and actions of men. 



Self- Knowledge. 1 1 

The more we know about ourselves the more 
we know about our fellow-men, and the better 
able are we to share their feelings and inter- 
pret their ways and works. There is no sub- 
ject so interesting and profitable as self. One 
of the wise among the ancients said, " Know 
thyself," Pope among the moderns announced 
that " the proper study of mankind is man," 
and the Bible from beginning to end empha- 
sizes strongly the value of self-examination. 

One of the advantages of self-knowledge is 
that it enables us to detect and correct our 
faults. Each one wants to make as much out 
of himself as possible. A noble soul is not 
satisfied simply to eat, drink and sleep ; he 
wants to grow. It is not gold altogether that 
he is seeking, but character, for this is the only 
possession he can take with him to the land 
beyond. We are not here simply for the col- 
lection of facts and the accumulation of wealth. 
These are only means for the development of 
our different powers. The great end to be at- 
tained is the stature of the perfect man. Every- 
thing else is subordinate and should contribute 
to this one object. 

But in order that it may be attained we must 
be acquainted with our faults and weaknesses. 
If the physician is to remedy physical troubles 



12 As Ithers See Us. 

he must know them. If the athlete is to de- 
velop a strong body he must understand his 
weak points. If the student is to train har- 
moniously his mental faculties he must know 
his imperfections and bestow his attention 
especially upon them. If the architect is to 
have a perfect building he must look out for 
crooked places and defective parts. • So with 
the temple of character, to make it beautiful 
and a fit dwelling for the Divine Spirit, we 
must watch closely for its faults and strive stren- 
uously to correct them. 

For after all it is the little things in life and 
not the great things that count. It is the little 
daily constant touches of word and deed and 
not great events that shape the character and 
make us what we are. And, on the other hand, 
it is the little faults and not the great ones that 
limit our usefulness and mar the beauty of our 
lives. " It is the little foxes that spoil the 
vines." And the reason is their littleness. 
Their very insignificance protects them. We 
easily detect the presence of the crow in the 
corn field, but not the worm. We discover the 
mouse in the wardrobe very quickly, but not 
the moth. As soon as the mother-fox invades 
the vineyard we know it ; but the footfalls of 
the little ones are so light, their damage appar- 



Self-Knowledge. 13 

ently so slight, that we do not realize their 
presence until the grapes are spoiled. So with 
our faults. We may be sincere in what we do, 
exemplary in conduct and upright in heart ; 
and yet some little idiosyncrasies or peculiar- 
ities which we have overlooked mar our useful- 
ness. There are thousands of people true as 
steel and good as gold who have few friends 
and little influence because of these very things. 
Not knowing themselves, blind to their failings, 
they wonder why they are not more appre- 
ciated. It is not because of any flagrant wrongs 
or any great moral weaknesses ; but simply be- 
cause some little foxes -unknown to them have 
crept into their manner and speech. 

Hence the importance of knowing ourselves. 
We glance in the mirror ten times a day at least 
to remedy faults in face and dress. But when a 
glass is not at hand many a one goes uncor- 
rected, not that we wish it so, but because we 
are ignorant of it. Now self-knowledge is a 
mirror for the inside. It reveals the imperfec- 
tions, not of the dress, but of the man. Its 
polished surface gives a reflection of ourselves 
as others see us. And when we thus stand off 
a few feet and look at our counterpart we are 
startled at the faulty individual before us. Then, 
like the prodigal, we come to ourselves. The 



14 As Ithers See Us. 

ointment of introspection has opened our eyes 
and we see. And seeing, we arise, bid farewell 
to our faults and weaknesses, and take the up- 
ward path of reformation. 

A second advantage of self-knowledge is that 
it acquaints us with our powers. To a great 
extent we are* ignorant of our ability. Those 
who do great things are not the only ones who 
can do them. Many others under the same 
circumstances and stimulated by the same in- 
fluences would be as strong and do as much. 
There is a great deal of latent genius slumber- 
ing in the breasts of the sons of toil, and, under 
the proper development, he could handle an 
empire who to-day is holding a plow. There 
is many a " mute inglorious Milton " in the 
rank and file of life that the world knows not 
of. 

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene 

The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear ; 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

Had but the hand of opportunity been laid 
upon that gem, it would have shown resplendent 
in the golden circlet of the king. Had but the 
hoe of cultivation been helpmeet to that flower, 
it would have bloomed in beauty and breathed 
its perfume upon the bejeweled breast of the 



Self-Knowledge. 15 

queen. If only the proper stimuli were brought 
to bear, greatness would be awakened in many 
a plowman's son and peasant's boy. As a gen- 
eral thing, man is as ignorant of his power as 
a horse tied to a post is of his strength. 
Under the influence of passion or fear he 
snaps the rein like a thread. In this newly- 
awakened strength he breaks the trappings of 
man as easily as Samson did the cords of 
the Philistines. So with us. Stirred by some 
great emergency, stimulated by some powerful 
emotion, we perform feats of strength and 
daring that in sober moments seem almost im- 
possible. The energy of despair is proverbial. 
The giant strength of the lunatic is well known. 
And every one can recall extraordinary things 
done by men under the influence of love or 
fear. Accident and emergency give us glimpses 
now and then of what we can do, but when the 
emotion wears away we distrust ourselves and 
forget the mighty force that sleeps within. 
When working under pressure we accomplish 
wonderful things in a very short time; but 
when necessity lays aside the goad we lag 
behind, waste our opportunities and become 
oblivious of our strength. Now, what trying 
situations reveal and call forth, we should dis- 
cover by the microscope of self-examination, 



16 As Ithers See Us. 

and so at all times be calmly conscious of the 
mighty power that we possess. 

Self-knowledge will beget self-reliance, and 
we will go forth to the battle of life with steady 
step and undaunted heart. Knowing what we 
can do will banish all distrust and fear, make 
us laugh at discouragements and rejoice as a 
strong man to run a race. Opposition will be 
our pleasure, difficulties will be our playthings, 
and we will never be so happy as when some 
Goliath bars our way. Consciousness of power 
will transfigure the face, give dignity to the 
mien, and make a hero even out of a clown. 

Remember that those who win are not al- 
ways the only ones who can. In many cases 
those who fail, if they only knew it, are just as 
strong. The faint-hearted have ofttimes as 
much power as the fearless, the timid wall- 
flower as-much ability to shine as the popular 
beauty, the retiring scholar ten times more 
wisdom than the talking pedant ; and yet the 
former are not heard, while the latter are lead- 
ers. The difference is simply this, the first are 
ignorant of and doubt their ability, while the 
second know and trust themselves. 

A third advantage of self-knowledge is, that 
it reveals our talents. A talent is a gift, not an 
attainment. As we come into the world, the 



Self- Knowledge. 17 

divine Hand gives to each one instruments of 
toil. Pens, brushes, hammers and hoes are 
distributed severally as we pass by. A special 
aptitude or qualification for one or more of the 
various occupations and professions of men is 
the heritage of every child. 

These gifts, however, are not labeled. One 
is not told that he is a poet, and another that 
he is a mechanic. Each must find this out for 
himself, and sometimes it is not easy. Often 
men experiment with half a dozen occupations 
before they strike the right one. It is no 
uncommon thing to see a person who has 
missed his calling, and consequently is dissatis- 
fied and unsuccessful. In some, the instinct is 
not strong enough to guide, and so they search 
around, trying this and that, and never find 
their real talent, or find it when their days are 
almost spent, and thus leave it undeveloped. 
For such, the right surroundings are necessary 
to bring to light their hidden gifts. It re- 
quires a favorable environment to awaken their 
dormant talent. In others, the bent of mind 
is unmistakable. There is no hesitation about 
their calling. From infancy they show a special 
aptitude and liking for some one thing. Pope 
lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. 
Mozart from babyhood was passionately fond 



i8 As Ithers See Us. 

of music, and composed a concerto when only 
six years old. But this early preference has 
often been checked by circumstances. The 
necessaries of life, the cares of a family, have 
robbed the world of many a genius. Unwise 
teachers have crushed many a strong talent, 
and condemned to a commonplace existence 
some who could have shone as stars. Practi- 
cal parents now and then consign to the dis- 
tasteful, weary round of business, sons who, 
under other circumstances, doing the things 
they liked, could be famous. Had Ole Bull 
listened to the command of his father, and not 
to the sweet, alluring voice of his genius, he 
would have been an ordinary, dissatisfied vil- 
lage preacher, instead of the greatest violinist 
of the world. Then, on the other hand, am- 
bitious parents sometimes try to make lawyers, 
preachers and statesmen out of boys nature 
meant for plowmen. Not infrequently we see 
trying to hold the reins of government one 
who w r as evidently intended for a muleteer. 
How often do we find misfits ! There is 
nothing more pitiable than to see a man whose 
mind and heart are completely wrapped up in 
one thing, and yet condemned by circumstances 
to do another. It is the daily sorrow of many 
a soul, and is one of the great tragedies of life. 



Self- Knowledge. 19 

When we love our work, when we are doing 
the thing we like, and the special thing God 
meant us to do, then duty is pleasure and 
labor is play. But when we are compelled to 
leave undeveloped our natural heritage and 
take up that which was intended for another, 
then joy is divorced from duty, and labor is a 
weariness to the flesh and a vexation to the 
spirit. 

The world has indeed had enough of this 
kind of thing. In an enlightened age like the 
present there is no excuse for such mistakes. 
If each one would study himself carefully be- 
fore he selects and begins his life-work, there 
would be fewer who miss their calling. Self- 
knowledge will reveal our talents and point 
out with unerring finger our pathway. 

Then a well-rounded development is another 
advantage of self-knowledge. Each one's aim 
should be the perfect man physically, mentally 
and spiritually. Every faculty and member 
should receive its due share of cultivation. 
The success of the whole depends upon each 
part having the strength and skill to do its 
proper work. This is true of a machine. Its 
efficiency depends upon every little pin and 
pinion being in its place and doing its duty. 
It is likewise true of man. To do his best 



20 As Ithers See Us. 

work he must have "a sound mind in a sound 
body." Specialization must be founded upon 
general cultivation. How often do we see lop- 
sided people, Solomons in one line and fools 
in another. Here is a giant in intellect but a 
weakling in form. There is a Samson in 
strength but a child in brain. This man is a 
profound philosopher on one subject, but utter- 
ly devoid of common sense with reference to 
everything else. He may understand all mys- 
teries and all knowledge, but he is totally igno- 
rant of the practical affairs of daily life and the 
means of influencing others for good. We call 
such an one a crank and give him a wide berth. 
Much brooding over one subject to the exclu- 
sion of all others has made him mad. Spe- 
cialization produces abnormal growth in one 
part, but narrows and weakens the rest. 

What we delight to see is harmonious devel- 
opment. A tree with all its life centered in 
one large bough is a blot on the landscape. 
The very sight of a human being with the head 
of a man and the body of a child causes pain. 
A building, no matter how fine, with the differ- 
ent parts out of proportion is an eyesore. It 
is so with a man who has gone crazy over some 
one thing. We may consult him as a specialist, 
but not admire him as a specimen of well- 



Self- Knowledge, 21 

rounded manhood. In us there is a sense of 
unity and proportion, and whenever this is 
violated we experience an uncomfortable feel- 
ing. In the highway of life we would rather 
ride beside any one else than the knight who 
rides the prancing hobby. Harping contin- 
ually upon one string makes his music monot- 
onous indeed. Talking incessantly about one 
thing makes him the most tedious and tiresome 
of men. What fine characters have often been 
spoiled by this abnormal development ! It 
has limited the influence of some of the bright- 
est and best people in* the world. Instead of 
being a blessing to their fellow-men they are 
a weariness and a worry. 

Now for this trouble self-knowledge is the 
antidote. It gives such an one a glimpse of his 
disproportion and causes him to develop the 
other parts of his nature. By this means he 
can see himself as others see him, and thus un- 
derstand the foolishness of his course. Gay 
said, 

" That man must daily wiser grow 

Whose search is bent himself to know." 

And Young gave expression to the same 
thought when he said, " Man, know thyself! 
all wisdom centers there." Let the pedant, fan- 



22 As Ithers See Us. 

atic and crank study themselves carefully and 
honestly, and they will very soon realize what 
monkeys mortals can sometimes be. 

Then, finally, self-knowledge makes us ac- 
quainted with others. Schiller said, 

" To know thyself — in others self concern ; 

Wouldst then know others ? read thyself and learn." 

He who thoroughly understands himself has 
the key to human nature. While there is a 
variety in temperament, disposition and creed, 
yet in the main, people of all ages and nations 
are alike. If you would interpret their actions 
and enter into their experiences, then look 
within and know thyself. Study the partic- 
ular piece of humanity committed especially 
to your care, and this will give you an insight 
into universal humanity. 

And such knowledge is by no means to be 
lightly esteemed. To be acquainted with hu- 
man nature is a very essential and important 
part of our education. Our usefulness and 
success in life depend largely upon it. The 
business man could accomplish very little if he 
didn't know men and how to deal with them. 
The success of the professional man is due 
more often to his tact and knowledge of hu- 
man nature than to his wonderful skill. The 



Self-Knowledge. 23 

failures of mothers and teachers may be ac- 
counted for in most instances by their ignorance 
of child nature. If we would be peacemakers we 
must know just how to deal gently and delicately 
with injured feelings. If we would be com- 
forters we must understand the best, most tact- 
ful way to bind up the broken-hearted and 
heal the wounded in spirit. If we would be 
soul-winners we must be touched with the feel- 
ing of others' infirmities and be able to put 
ourselves in their place and look at things from 
their standpoint. By knowing ourselves we 
will know what is in man and be able to sym- 
pathize with him and thus lift him to a higher 
plane of living, 



SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. 

CURIOSITY. 

Curiosity is a good thing. It is one of 
the prominent traits of the human mind, the 
secret of discovery and the condition of prog- 
ress. It is the weapon of science and philoso- 
phy, and might be defined as the desire to 
know things, the why of this and the where- 
fore of that. Suggest something enigmatical 
or mysterious, and curiosity is immediately on 
tiptoe, all eyes and ears and, like the " Ghost 
of Banquo," will not down until the problem 
is solved. What the goad is to the ox, curi- 
osity is to the mind. It is its stimulant. The 
most indolent and indifferent boy in school 
will work if you can but arouse his curiosity 
and excite his interest. The old-fashioned 
stimulant was of a different shape, and in the 
hands of a master it was very inspiring, but 
somehow I never took to it. I believe more 
good can be done by dealing skilfully with the 

mind than by belaboring the body. At least 
24 



Social Intercourse. 25 

I prefer to have my attention awakened by 
curiosity rather than by hickory. The success- 
ful teacher of the past was the man of physical 
prowess. One evening in the days gone by a 
boy was sitting at the window of an old school- 
house. In a moment of abstraction he 
happened to look out at the smiling face of 
nature. For this furtive glance he was per- 
emptorily invited to come forward, and a big 
rough two-hundred-pound Squeers of a teacher 
thrashed him as though he were a slave. " Oh, 
my heart's a-beating for that old time greet- 
ing," the swinging of that stinging hickory 
limb ! The successful teacher of to day, how- 
ever, is the man of mental acumen, one who 
thoroughly understands the workings of the 
mind and knows how to touch its secret springs. 
Any ordinary person can give information, but 
it requires an extraordinary one to give inspira- 
tion. Any one can pour knowledge into the 
mind, but not every one can arouse within a 
thirst for knowledge. And after all the latter 
is the main thing, and the ability to do it is a 
fine art indeed. 

But I am wandering somewhat from my 
subject. We were speaking of the stimulating 
power of curiosity. Under the influence of 
curiosity we do many things that we would 



26 As Ithers See Us. 

not do from a sense of duty. For instance, 
any little excuse will keep us from the ordinary 
services of the sanctuary, but if we read that 
the Rev. Dr. Stiremup is going to preach at a 
certain church on a highly sensational theme, 
a thunder-storm will not keep us away. Curi- 
osity exerts a wonderful influence over us. It 
is the mainspring of a great deal of human 
action, the motive power that is pushing many 
an one along the track of discovery and inven- 
tion ; and were it taken away the poor teacher 
would have a hard time, woman would be 
robbed of one of her jewels and man of one of 
his stimulants. 

Curiosity is a good thing, but to be over-cu- 
rious is not. If it lead one to discover great 
things it is right, but if it cause one to meddle 
with little trifling personal private affairs, it is 
contemptible. A lawyer, of course, is the apos- 
tle of inquisitiveness. It is his business to ask 
questions and to pry into other people's affairs. 
But then we are not all lawyers, and perhaps 
it is just as well for the world that we are not. 
We are not all interrogation points licensed to 
stand at- the forks of the road and pump dry 
the mental well of every passer-by. Of course 
man has a thirst for knowledge, and this is per- 
fectly natural ; but he will be excused if he 



Social Intercourse. 27 

doesn't learn it quite all. I do not believe the 
entrance examination of the skies will be held 
upon the private affairs of our fellow-men. To 
be perfectly candid, I think this is an entirely 
optional study, and by no means one of the 
branches required for graduation. 

Unseemly curiosity has its swinish proboscis 
in every trough except its own. Pup-like it 
feels itself bound to explore everything in the 
least open for investigation. It thinks its 
divinely appointed mission is to inquire into 
everybody's business and become acquainted 
with every personal matter. How it does vex 
and annoy its victims and cause them to be rude, 
or to evade the truth, or to stretch it almost 
to the breaking-point. The influence of good 
people has been spoiled and their society 
shunned because of this unfortunate trait of 
character. Census-taking business like this is 
not calculated to make one very popular. To 
go round examining the mental houses of peo- 
ple with the search-warrant of impudent curi- 
osity is an occupation which I would advise no 
one to adopt. May the time soon come when 
this meddlesome characteristic will be elimi- 
nated from human intercourse. 



THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE CRA- 
NIUM. 

There is an affliction found among young 
people, and students especially, known in col- 
lege vernacular as the Big Head. It is a sort of 
an hallucination, and its principal symptom is 
that the opinion of the victim thereof is at least 
four or five numbers too large for his real self, 
and in his robe of conceit he is about as ridicu- 
lous as a boy in a man's coat. 

This intoxication of wisdom is prpduced by 
a few teaspoonf uls of diluted knowledge. Like 
all stimulants this goes immediately to the 
head, and causes there an ecstatic Solomonic 
sensation which makes the sages of Greece 
seem exceedingly small. " A little learning is 
a dangerous thing " and is responsible for a 
great many precocious airs and ridiculous pre- 
tentions. The remedy for the trouble is to in- 
crease the dose. Homeopathy is the best treat- 
ment in this case. Similia similibus curantur. 
The law is that as one's knowledge increases in 
depth and volume his cranium decreases in size. 
28 



The Enlargement of the Cranium. 29 

In other words, the more he knows the more 
he sees there is to know, and comparison of his 
few pebbles with the great ocean of truth 
reduces him very quickly to his normal self. 

But knowledge is not the only cause of this 
trouble. The gas of pride may be manufac- 
tured out of a hundred different ingredients. 
Birth, beauty, wealth, position et cetera, all con- 
spire to inflate the mental balloon and make 
men think more of themselves than circum- 
stances warrant. 

It is not a bad thing, however, to think a good 
deal of ourselves. I admire a person of pride. 
" To such we render more than real respect 
whose conduct shows that they themselves re- 
spect." A man's pride is the price at which he 
rates himself, and I would rather see it a little 
high than too low. But sometimes it is beyond 
all reason, and then it is like u a fifty-dollar sad- 
dle on a twenty-dollar hoss." Among strangers 
we are generally taken at our own price, but 
among acquaintances we are usually rated at 
par value and sometimes below. Some people, 
because of timidity and modesty, discredit 
themselves and depreciate their ability. Their 
powers are above par, but their self-assurance 
below. Others are just the opposite. They 
haven't very many wares, but they more than 



30 As Ithers See Us. 

make up the deficiency in advertisement. 
What they really are is much below par, but 
what they think they are is far above. Both 
are wrong. Both go to extremes. There is a 
golden mean where one is not puffed up with 
pride nor yet held down by self-depreciation, a 
middle way where appearance and reality agree. 
Each one should strive to walk in that way. 

There is avast difference between one puffed 
up with pride and one built up with knowl- 
edge and love. Only the ignoramus thinks 
he knows it all. Only the bigoted Pharisee 
says, " I am holier than thou." Only the little 
souls are compounds of prejudice and pride. 
And on the other hand, only the great souls 
realize their littleness and their kinship to 
humanity. Only the strong, the magnanimous, 
the good stoop to give the helping hand, the 
cup of cold water, the kind word. Pride with 
folded arms holds itself aloof, draws up its 
skirts and scorns to touch the common and 
unclean. Love, conscious of its greatness and 
power, devoid of foolish haughtiness and fully 
alive to its mission in the world, goes down 
and eats with publicans and sinners, and by 
sympathy lifts them up. " The bough that 
bears bountifully bows low," while the branch 
that has only leaves holds itself erect. Christ, 



The Enlargement of the Cranium. 31 

the greatest man that ever lived, was the hum- 
blest, while Caiaphas, the arch hypocrite of 
Christendom, was the haughtiest. Which shall 
we take as our example ? 



GOSSIP. 

A GOSSIP is like a gabbling gander. He 
makes a great noise over nothing. Sometimes 
this gander — I regret to say — has to be put in 
the .feminine gender, and then it is necessary 
to write over the staff of commotion crescendo 
accelerando. 

This pecular genius, however, is a very liberal 
person. He is a sort of free public bureau of 
misinformation. He willingly sacrifices time 
and tongue in order to publish abroad the bad 
tidings of the neighborhood. On the slightest 
provocation he will give you all the news of 
the community, served to suit individual taste, 
without money and without price. He takes 
the hearsay material in its crude state, thor- 
oughly mixes it up, adding suitable condi- 
ments to make it appetizing, and then freely and 
voluntarily ladles it out to the gaping crowd. 
No reporter is more expert than he in nosing 
for news, and no one so skilful in presenting it 
in an attractive, interesting way. In fact he is 
32 



Gossip. 33 

a sort of walking local newspaper known and 
read of all men. 

Now it is doubtless a good thing to know 
the doings and happenings of the community. 
It is about the only mental food some people 
have. They haven't time to keep posted on the 
news of the world, but when it comes to news 
of the neighborhood they are right up to date, 
and it would be a good thing to circulate this 
news, could it be circulated truly ; but a story 
is like a snowball, the further it goes the. larger 
it grows. Each one makes his comments 
thereupon and his changes therein, and when 
it has made the circuit and gets back home, it 
retains none of its original form and very little 
of its original substance. If it passes through 
an envious mind the good is lopped off and 
the bad magnified. If it passes through a 
curious mind, motives are assigned and deduc- 
tions drawn that are ofttimes foreign to it. 
If it passes through a friendly mind, it is 
painted in its best colors and facts are some- 
times lost sight of. Pass a story through a half- 
dozen pairs of lips, and when it emerges from 
the last it is a stranger. Fact is soon colored 
by fancy and truth soon transmuted into false- 
hood. When gossip opes its mouth then " mis- 
chief is afoot," and misrepresentation and slan- 
3 



34 As Ithers See Us. 

der stalk hand in hand through the town. No 
honest man fears to have the truth told, but 
every one shrinks from its perversion. It is 
because of this very thing that the gossip is so 
heartily despised. He misstates facts, magnifies 
trifles, tampers with strictly private affairs, and 
whether wilfully or not nearly always perverts 
the truth. 

I suppose this prying fox was created for 
some good purpose, but it does seem that we 
could get along without him. Perhaps he was 
meant to be a sort of thorn in the flesh to keep 
us from being exalted above measure, or a 
kind of human mosquito to compel us to draw 
down the screen of prudent silence. Whatever 
his mission let us see to it that we do not adopt 
his profession. 



FAULT-FINDING. 

CRITICS are unpopular. There is no class of 
men, perhaps, more heartily detested. Almost 
every author dips his quill in gall, and pays 
them his ironical respects. Burns gives his 
head a defiant toss and says : " Critics are cut- 
throat bandits on the paths of fame." Byron, 
smarting under their sneers, says: "A man 
must serve his time to every trade save cen- 
sure ; critics all are ready-made." Even Pope, 
whose greatest pleasure was in holding up to 
ridicule the weaknesses of men, handled his 
brother critics with ungloved hands, saying of 
them : 

" Some have at first for wits, then poets passed, 
Turned critics next, and proved plain fools at last." 

Goldsmith, however, comes as peacemaker 
into this wrangling crowd, and kindly says to 
the critic : 

" Blame when you must, be candid when you can, 
And be each critic the good-natured man." 

But our business is with the fault-finder rather 

35 



36 As Ithers See Us. 

than with the critic. The critic reviews the 
writings of men, the inspector examines the 
works of men, while the fault-finder censures 
the ways of men. He regards himself as a 
sort of universal umpire, and feels called upon 
to set things right in every sphere of life. 

" Every day he gives the Almighty, 
Advice which he deems of great worth, 
And his wife takes in sewing 
To keep things agoing, 
While he superintends the earth." 

A native, when asked about the fate of a 
missionary, replied, "Why, he is dead. He 
gave us so much advice that we killed him and 
ate him." Now, it is this perpetual advice of 
the fault-finder that we dislike. It is this con- 
stant fingering in our eyes for motes that we 
cannot abide. And if under this aggravating 
irritation the cannibalistic spirit sometimes 
arises in us, surely we ought not to be blamed. 

The occupation of the fault-finder is like 
that of the insects, he attacks the rotten spots. 
Nothing ever pleases him, and he would rather 
sacrifice his right hand than utter a word of 
praise. No matter how perfect a thing is, he 
will find some objection to it. Every plan 
that does not bear his mark and have his 
specific approval is doomed to failure. With 



Fault-Finding. 37 

his head thrown back and his thumbs hooked 
in his vest, he stands as the very impersonation 
of wisdom, and with oracular voice he con- 
demns wholesale the ways and works of men. 

He never presumes to do anything himself. 
" His wife takes in sewing to keep things 
going." He is one of the drones in the hive 
of humanity. And, instead of encouraging the 
workers, he stands off and picks flaws in their 
plans, ridicules their efforts, and casts a wet 
blanket upon their enthusiasm. If he would 
do something occasionally, instead of all the 
time finding fault and chilling the ardor of 
others, it would atone somewhat for this vigor- 
ous and perpetual exercise of his pedal extrem- 
ity. But he doesn't, he is simply a chronic 
kicker, that's all. 

Now, it is needless to say that he is a very 
disagreeable person. This critical propensity 
erects a sort of barrier between himself and his 
fellow-men. In his presence there is restraint, 
and a lack of confidence and freedom. His 
coming is not like the morning sun, warm and 
genial, but like the evening chill and nightly 
frost. Instead of cheering, encouraging and 
awakening hope and love, he discourages and 
depresses. Instead of looking at the good, and 
praising that, he sees only the little specks of 



38 As Ithers See Us. 

decay and the marks of imperfection. He is 
popular nowhere, not even among those of his 
own ilk and clan. I do not know exactly why it 
is, but human nature instinctively shrinks from 
the critic, and instinctively clings to those who 
encourage and praise. I do not think we like 
the Master as well when He says, " Woe unto 
you," as when He says, " Come unto Me." I 
do not believe we like stern Elijah as well as 
beloved John. And yet both were necessary. 

The critic has his place, else at present I 
would be very much out of place. Evils have 
to be cut down with the knife of rebuke, faults 
to be pointed out with the ominous finger of 
criticism, and follies lashed with the stinging 
tongue of ridicule. Yes, the critic has his 
place, but that place is not the center of the 
genial circle of social intercourse. Here the 
sword of criticism should be sheathed, and in- 
stead there should be the ignoring eye, the 
sympathetic manner, the kind word, and the 
considerate deed. Here only that which will 
brighten and cheer should be said and done, 
while the critical, the hypercritical and the 
hypocritical should be studiously avoided. 



PESSIMISM. 

A DISPOSITION very similar to the one de- 
scribed above is pessimism. A pessimist, says 
»the lexicon, is one who complains of everything 
being for the worst. In every community you 
will find two or three of these unfortunates, 
created purposely, I suppose, to act as a sort of 
damper upon the hopeful and jolly spirits of 
their fellow-men. 

The presence of such persons has the same 
effect upon you as a rainy day. Your spirits 
may be at the summer heat of cheerfulness and 
joy, but talk with them five minutes and the 
mercury of your mental thermometer will go 
down to the chill of a December morn. They 
always look on the dark side of things and are 
blind to the bright and beautiful about them. 
Everything is out of joint. The race is going 
to ruin. " Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." 
" Farewell, vain world, I'm going home." 

Sam Jones said in his quaint way that every 
truth presented itself to his mind " ridiculous end 
foremost." Just the reverse is true of the pes- 

39 



40 As Ithers See Us. 

simist. Truths come to his mind with the 
gloomiest end foremost. He sees everything 
through the black glasses of grumbling, and of 
course the world is dark. Dear friend, takeoff 
your spectacles and put on the clear magnifiers 
of the optimist and there will be no cloud so 
black but what you can see its silver lining, 
and no night so dark but what you can see 
the star of hope twinkling through the gloom. 
Oh, how I pity a person with a pessimistic 
temperament ! One in whose every tone there 
is the whine of complaint, in whose every sen- 
tence there is the wail of lamentation, in whose 
face there is constantly written, " Hark from 
the tomb a doleful sound," and whose whole life 
is a mournful Jeremiad ! How much better it 
would be for those who live continually on the 
chilly north side of the hill of life to come over 
on the southern sunny slope ! How much 
better it would be for those who make the three 
hundred and sixty-five days rainy days, to live 
above the clouds and thus make them all bright 
days! Oh, ye complainers, do you think that 
you do good by your complaining? Do you 
think you make the world better and its people 
happier by your wailing? Far from it. The 
pessimist warps his own nature, limits greatly 
his usefulness, and makes his whole life a long 



Pessimism. 41 

miserable tale of woe. And not only this but 
he chills the enthusiasm, dampens the ardor 
and beclouds the sky of all those with whom 
he comes in contact. His breath is the breath 
of the frost that kills the bud of hope, and not 
that of the sunbeam that spreads its petals the 
wider. His coming is a signal for funereal 
gravity, and his presence a miasma that is death 
to smiling cheerfulness and merry laughter. 
Now if he would keep his pessimism to himself 
it would not be so bad. But his greatest 
pleasure seems to consist in spreading it abroad 
and infecting others with his disgruntled mis- 
ery. Life has enough clouds and troubles 
already without these thoughtless cranks going 
from door to door peddling pessimism. 

My friend, be an optimist. It is your duty 
to be cheerful even as a mere matter of dollars 
and cents, as a matter of health, as a matter of 
influence. The genial person has more friends, 
fewer burdens, better health and a thousand 
times more joy and contentment than the 
chronic complainer. Look on the bright 
side of things. Control circumstances. Be 
their master rather than their plaything. If 
something doesn't turn up to your advantage, 
turn something up. Do not sit down and fold 
your hands and say all these things are against 



42 As Ithers See Us. 

me ; but arise and do your part, then trust in 
providence and steer your barque by the north 
star of hope. 

" If you strike a thorn or rose, 

Keep a-goin' ! 
If it hails or if it snows, 

Keep a-goin' ! 
'Taint no use to sit and whine 
When the fish ain't on your line, 
Just bait your hook and keep on tryin'. 

Keep a-goin'! 

" When you tumble from the top, 

Keep a-goin' ! 
When the weather spoils your crop, 

Keep a-goin' ! 
S'pose you're out o' every dime ? 
Gittin' broke ain't any crime ! 
Tell the world you're feelin' prime! 

Keep a-goin' ! 



ENVY. 

ACCORDING to Aristotle " envy is feeling 
pain at the deserved good fortune of another." 
It is a sort of selfish irritation produced by the 
success of those about us. History, sacred and 
profane, is filled with illustrations of this vice, 
and the book of individual experience has many 
pages blotted by it. No meaner emotion per- 
haps ever had birth in the human breast. 
Surely no other feeling ever caused so much 
trouble in the world. Envy is Cain striking 
down his brother simply because Abel's offering 
is accepted, and his rejected. It is the sons of 
Jacob selling Joseph because of the natural 
partiality and favor of an aged father for his 
baby boy. It is the authorities of Babylon 
scheming against Daniel because of the high 
position the alien occupied. Envy is all the 
time shooting the arrow of misrepresentation 
and slander at him who is just a little higher. 
Instead of rejoicing at his success, it plots and 
wishes for his downfall. 

There is a difference, however, between envy 

43 



44 As Ithers See Us. 

and indignation. We should not mistake the 
one for the other. Many a time a person tries 
to persuade himself that he is indignant when 
he is really envious. And often we think a per- 
son is envious when he is only indignant. " In- 
dignation is feeling pain at the undeserved good 
fortune of another." It is the feeling that we 
have when a Schley does the fighting and a 
Sampson gets the glory. It is the emotion 
awakened within us when one, in order to get 
up, pushes others down, and makes of them 
stepping-stones to fame and fortune. It is the 
anger we feel when the trickster, the under- 
handed schemer, gets the prize, and the honest 
hard worker is made the target for sport and 
ridicule. Aye, indignation is right, it is legit- 
imate, and he who is not indignant at injus- 
tice and oppression is made of coarse clay 
indeed. 

But envy is something else. It is a little 
contemptible feeling, the effervescence of a 
small mind and a narrow soul. It is the most 
unreasonable emotion that nestles in the brain. 
There are chestnuts on that tree, but I cannot 
get them. Another boy of cooler head and 
nimbler feet can, and because he can I must 
needs pelt him with stones. Because of his 
deserved success I must shower my congratu- 



Envy. 45 

lations upon him, not in the shape of flowers, 
but of stinging missiles. Such conduct would 
be ridiculous were it not so supremely con- 
temptible. 

Instead of pulling others down we should 
help them up, when they get up honestly. In- 
stead of being envious of them we should re- 
joice at their success. If I cannot win the prize 
I should be glad another can. We pour our 
maledictions upon the surly dog that would not 
eat the hay and would not let the cow eat it. 
What should we say of one that could not get 
the hay, and yet growled enviously because the 
cow could get it? This is exactly the condi- 
tion of him of the green eye and pouting lip. 
He snarls because another gets what he cannot. 
Envy evidently is the canine in man that civil- 
ization has not vet succeeded in working out. 
Nothing so belittles a person as to allow this 
feeling to take possession of him. It embitters 
the fountain of kindness, casts a cynical expres- 
sion upon the face, and puts a sarcastic dis- 
agreeable tone in even the sweetest voice. It 
is the fruitful source of jealousy, malice, hatred, 
and a whole brood of kindred vices, and is re- 
sponsible for much of the world's trouble. 
May the time soon come when humanity will 
be ashamed to entertain longer this petty feel- 



46 As Ithers See Us. 

ing ; be content to live and let live, be magnan- 
imous enough to rejoice with those who 
honestly succeed, and encourage those who 
fail. 



SUPER-SENSITIVENESS. 

I LIKE a person of a sensitive nature. It shows 
a refined high-strung constitution. Only the 
finest instruments in the mechanical arts are 
susceptible to slight influences. Only the most 
delicately poised balances will respond to the 
feathers and the grain of dust. Only the very 
highest type of thermometer will show the 
little change in temperature. So it is with a 
sensitive person. He is strangely susceptible 
to the little influences about him. Being in 
close sympathetic touch with his surroundings, 
the least thing affects him. He goes and comes 
with the moods of his companions. Hence it 
is that a sensitive person is always a sympa- 
thetic one. 

But there is a sensitiveness and a super- 
sensitiveness. We like a sensitive person, but 
we want him to be sensible as well. We should 
be sensitive to some things and insensible to 
others. We should be sensitive to that which 
will be for the good of ourselves and our fellow- 
men but insensible to all those little slights which 

47 



48 As Ithers See Us. 

are ofttimes unmeant and which make so many 
people unhappy. Some persons are all the time 
looking for slights, walking around as the boys 
say with a chip on their shoulders and mentally 
daring any one to knock it off. They are 
always in a receptive condition for anything 
that may be construed as an offense. And 
being on the lookout for such things, it is but 
natural that they should find them. Expecta- 
tion tends to realize itself. We usually get 
what we are looking for. If we don't find any 
real bona fide slights, we imagine some, which 
answers the same purpose. A cold look, an 
ambiguous expression, a mysterious exchange 
of glances, a series of smiles whose cause is un- 
known to us ; and the thermometer of our 
sensitive nature goes up to the ninety-six of 
anger. We turn on our heels, and hence- 
forth there is coldness between us and our 
friends. We scarcely speak as we pass by. 
The old free-and-easy manner is gone and, 
once the be^t of friends, we are now strangers, 
separated by a strangeness that is peculiarly 
strange. 

It is needless to say that such a person im- 
ports a great deal of unhappiness into his heart 
and robs himself of a thousand pleasures and 
joys. He makes himself miserable, puts his 



Super-Sensitiveness. 49 

companions under restraint and makes his 
friends generally ill at ease. One should not 
go to this extreme. It is passing the boundary 
of the sensitive and the sensible and straying 
dangerously near the border of the foolish and 
the nonsensical. Neither should he go to the 
other extreme. It is not desirable to be either 
too sensitive or too meek. A person should 
not be a snapping turtle, neither should he be 
a donkey. Spurgeon said, " When the sheep 
is too meek all the lambs suck it." When one 
is too meek he is made the»tool and dupe of 
others, the target for their jokes and the don- 
key for their impositions. To be a door-mat 
is not a very pleasant calling. Abject humility 
without pride enough to stand up for your 
rights is foolish and reprehensible. There is 
always a middle ground in which one can assert 
his manhood, a place where he can command 
the respect of his companions and at the same 
time enjoy their association. 

Super-sensitiveness is the cause of much 
unhappiness. How many unenjoyable even- 
ings, how many sleepless nights, are spent 
because some one has been undesignedly over- 
looked or apparently slighted ! This peculiar 
disposition occasions many spells of the blues 
and prepares the way ofttimes for dark-visaged 
4 



go As Ithers See Us. 

melancholia. This quick susceptibility to 
fancied offenses causes far more heartaches 
than many other things of greater moment. 
Could we measure the tears that have dimmed 
the eyes of gentle spirits, we would find per- 
haps that half of those trembling pearls have 
been drawn from their hiding-place by super- 
sensitiveness. 

Now this should not be. We have no nights 
to spend in tossing, no days to spend in tears, 
no weeks to spend in nursing injured feelings 
lacerated by fancied nothings. We are not 
here to brood over trifles. Life was not given 
us to waste in sighing nor strength to dissipate 
on imagined slights. We have other and more 
important things to engage our attention. So, 
my dear reader, if you happen to be afflicted 
with this trouble, hearken to my advice. In 
the book* of experience you will find an old- 
fashioned remedy for it known as common 
sense. Put a bountiful supply of this beneath 
your thin sensitive skin, and in a short time 
you will be completely cured of this malady. 



OBSTINACY. 

THERE is a well-known beast of the field 
whose name is always mentioned in an under- 
tone and with an apologetic air. The chief 
characteristics of this animal are his voice and 
his obstinacy. The latter is so pronounced and 
so much a part of his nature that his name has 
become its most graphic synonym. You talk 
about obstinacy, and some people do not know 
exactly what you mean, but just whisper mulish 
and they readily understand. 

I suppose the evolutionist would tell us that 
man gets his cunning from the fox, his cruelty 
from the tiger, his foolishness from the monkey 
and his stubbornness from the mule. Well, 
blood will tell. Heredity has its influence as 
well as environment. If the mule is our ances- 
tor it is but natural that his traits of voice and 
manner should crop out here and there. But 
if, on the other hand, we deny evolution and 
disclaim all kinship with the monkey and the 
mule, if man is not a lineal descendant of Bal- 
aam's automobile, then the similarity in their 

5 1 



52 As Ithers See Us. 

dispositions is hard to account for. In some 
cases of course it may be the result of associa- 
tion, but in others it is simply an unaccount- 
able freak of nature. 

Man has as many different moods as an 
organ has stops, and each mood gives its 
peculiar tone to both manner and speech. 
When he is in a cheerful, obliging state of mind, 
then he is very agreeable indeed. But when 
he falls into a stubborn mood — which the best 
of us do occasionally regardless of cloth or 
creed — then he reminds you very much of his 
long-eared cousin out in the pasture. The 
most original thing in man is his original sin, 
and obstinacy, of which there is a streak run- 
ning through the whole of human nature, is one 
of its many manifestations. I hardly know 
how to define obstinacy. It is like love : it has 
to be personally experienced in order to be 
rightly appreciated. It is a sort of cramplike 
mental spasm which tightens the tension and 
stops the whole machine. It produces a sulky 
expression of indifference which is ridiculous 
in its solemn soberness. It arrays one in the 
cool, dignified manner of an utter stranger and 
transforms his genial greeting into a freezing 
salutation. An obstinate man is far worse than 
a balky horse, or a stubborn ox, or the most 



Obstinacy. 53 

mulish mule that ever laid back his ears and 
planted his feet. He will not do anything or go 
any way except that which is contrary to your 
desire. The wheels of his brain are so dis- 
arranged that he works only by contraries. 
Tell him to do a certain thing and he will not 
do it simply because you have told him. In 
order to operate him at all you, must tell him 
to do just what you don't want him to do. If 
this does not answer the purpose then let him 
severely alone. And perhaps this is the best 
way anyhow to deal with an absolutely obstinate 
person. Pay no attention to him, ignore his 
presence entirely, and he will soon relax and 
come to his own level — which is, morally speak- 
ing, " a lot of clothes with a hat on the top of 
them." 

Once upon a time there was a deacon in a 
church who was possessed with a sevenfold 
measure of the aforesaid spirit, He was so 
terribly stubborn that try as they would neither 
pastor nor people could do anything with him. 
Everything they would propose he would op- 
pose. If he could not have his own way he 
would go no w r ay. At last at a council meeting 
the minister, perfectly worn out by the deacon's 
obstinacy, said, " Brethren, we will resolve this 
into a prayer-meeting; we have done all w r e can 



54 As Ithers See Us. 

for Deacon Jones, and now as a last resort we 
will make him a subject of prayer. Brother 
Smith, we will unite with you in prayer for the 
Deacon." They all reverently knelt down and 
Brother Smith fervently prayed, and at the 
conclusion of his prayer he said, " And now, 
Lord, that we have done everything that we 
can upon earth for this brother, we pray Thee 
to prepare him and take him to heaven." 
Deacon Jones arose and said very deliberately, 
" Brethren, I won't go." This is the way with 
an obstinate man. He will not even go to 
heaven if you want him to, and the best way 
to get him there is to let him alone. 

Now this is a verv disagreeable trait of char- 

J o 

acter and causes no end of trouble. Many an 
enterprise has been ruined because of stubborn- 
ness. Many a home has been made unhappy 
because of the abnormal length of somebody's 
ears. And the sweet music of social intercourse 
is often spoiled by some one's obstinacy and 
bray. If we disclaim kinship with the mule let 
us be careful not to betray our relationship by 
manifesting his most striking characteristic. Be 
outspoken and rash if you will, speak out your 
whole mind if you like, but with it all be reason- 
able, above all things do not be stubborn. 



CITIZENSHIP. 

A NATION is a band of people united to- 
gether for mutual benefit. The origin of this 
corporate body is the family. The Jewish 
Commonwealth had its birth in a humble tent 
in the plain of Mamre. This little family soon 
became a tribe and later on arose to the dignity 
and power of a nation. Among most primi- 
tive people the patriarchical constitution pre- 
vails in which the father is chief and his word 
law. As the tribe increases his dominion and 
authority are extended until he rules not only 
his children but his grand and great-grand 
children as well. When he dies, his oldest son 
falls heir to his privileges and prerogatives, and 
continues the administration of the affairs of 
the tribe. Thus we see that the king is but 
the evolution of the father, the nation simply 
the evolution of the family, and patriotism 
the evolution of blood relationship and love 
for home. In the infancy of this kind of na- 
tion the family tie is the bond that holds the 
people together, but as generations pass away 

5S 



56 As Ithers See Us. 

this is succeeded by blind faith in the divine 
right of the authority of kings. 

When people become enlightened and begin 
to think for themselves, especially if they are 
oppressed, then another kind of nation arises. 
This is founded not upon the natural affec- 
tion of kinsmen but upon congeniality of spirit. 
Similar sentiments as to politics and religion 
draw them together and unite them in com- 
panies. They are not necessarily of one blood 
or one color. They are brothers, not because 
they have the same parents, but because they 
hold the same principles. They may come 
from different tribes, be reared in different 
climes and under different circumstances, but 
they all have the same mind in respect to hu- 
man liberty. Kindred interests and ideas is 
the bond that binds them together. 

Now the United States is a nation of this 
kind. It did not spring from the loins of an 
Abraham. It has no one that the different sec- 
tions claim as a common father. It is a select 
nation, a peculiar people, gathered out of all 
lands and born again of the spirit of liberty. 
What Christianity is among the religions of 
the world, Columbia is among the nations. 
Among Christians we find Jew and Gentile, 
Barbarian, Scythian, bond and free, not simply 



Citizenship. 57 

those who are bound together by blood, as are 
the Jews ; butall of whatever name or condition, 
who have the spirit of Christ. So among 
Americans w r e find Englishmen, Frenchmen, 
Germans, Italians, Russians and Swedes. We 
are a cosmopolitan people. Almost every na- 
tionality under heaven is represented here. 
The children of the earth "from Greenland's 
icy mountains to India's coral strand " have 
sought the protection of our flag, the liberty 
of our constitution and the plenty of our 
fertile valleys and everlasting hills. Pilgrims of 
every land turn their faces Americaward and 
gather to this garden of peace and prosperity. 

In this kind of government there is no king, 
no one person whose word is law and whose 
authority is absolute. Here every man is just 
a little bit of a king, wields a little of the 
scepter of government, %i wears a little of 
purple and a little of crown." Every citizen 
has a voice in the affairs of city, state and 
nation. He helps to determine the rate of 
taxation, the disposition of the revenue and 
the policy of the government. The voice of 
the people and not the voice of a king 
is the law of the land. Consequently the 
people themselves are responsible for the weal 
or wo of the country, and the awful cor- 



58 As Ithers See Us. 

ruption that we find in politics is due not so 
much to the knavery of the bosses as to the in- 
difference and apathy of the intelligent voters. 
As citizens men have certain duties to perform. 
The government is a kind of corporation, and 
each citizen is a member, and we are all united 
together for mutual benefit. We have the 
protection of our rights and property, we en- 
joy the benefits of education and the conven- 
iences of travel, and for these advantages each 
one contributes a certain sum to the public 
treasury. Now, each citizen has a voice in 
making the laws that control the body politic 
and in the disposition of this public fund. If un- 
just laws are made, if wickedness in high places 
is protected, if hard-earned taxes are squan- 
dered, whose fault is it ? Evidently the trouble 
lies at the door of the people. They grossly 
neglect their duties as citizens, and err both 
by omission and commission. Most of the 
evils that now prey upon our political life can 
be directly charged to their account Now, 
what some of these are is our task here to con- 
sider. 



BRIBERY. 

The first is the improper use of money in 
elections, making the glorious privilege of fran- 
chise a thing of barter. Purchasing another's 
manhood, marching him up to the polls as 
though he were an ox, and voting him accord- 
ing to our ideas and interests. 

There is no more pernicious practise in 
modern politics. Nothing so degrades a man, 
so robs him of nobility, so belittles him in his 
own eyes, as the consciousness that he has 
been bought. The feeling that he has sold his 
vote and been made the tool of another makes 
him a slave more cringing and abject than he 
who bears the ball and chain. It takes away 
his manliness, his power to look the world 
squarely in the face, and gives him the skulk- 
ing, fawning look of the criminal. It chills his 
patriotism, intensifies his cupidity, and makes 
him simply a piece of ordinary merchandise in 
the political market, with the tag u For Sale" 
suspended from his neck. There is no sadder 
sight in this land of liberty than to see " Sold " 

59 



60 As Ithers See Us. 

written in unmistakable characters upon the 
forehead of the free-born citizen. 

The Jews boasted of their freedom. They 
said proudly, " We were never in bondage to 
any man." They did not realize that not only 
the yoke of Rome but also the yoke of bigotry 
and sin was resting upon their, necks. We 
likewise boast of our freedom. We throw up 
.our hats, and shoot off our firecrackers, and 
shout ourselves hoarse on the glorious Fourth, 
and yet, if you look closely, you will find 
upon the wrists and ankles of a large part of 
that crowd the manacles of political slavery. 
Sad to say, many of them are not their own, 
they are bought with a price. At election 
time they are corraled like cattle, and each 
ringster sells his herd at so much per head. 
Like Judas, he sends up his report to head- 
quarters : I have so many voters at this pre- 
cinct, how much will you give me, and I will 
deliver them unto you ? Then, after some hag- 
gling as to price, he makes a contract with the 
political Caiaphas for so many pieces of silver, 
and these men are sold to a machine that 
filches the treasury, corrupts the government, 
and disgraces the country. 

I do not know which is the more to blame, 
the briber or the bribed. One wants to buy, 



Bribery. 61 

and the other is anxious to sell. Both are in- 
fluenced by the same motive — money. Mam- 
monism, not patriotism, is the determining prin- 
ciple. At elections, the question — Is this the 
best thing for the public welfare? is not asked ; 
but — How much is therein it for me? The 
briber, • however, is usually a man of more in- 
fluence and intelligence than the ordinary 
voter. He is in a position to help and elevate 
his weaker brother. He should therefore make 
him acquainted with the political issues, teach 
him the sanctity of the ballot-box, the exalted 
privilege of franchise, and thus try to make out 
of him an intelligent, useful, law-abiding citizen. 
Instead of this, he appeals to his cupidity, 
silences his scruples of conscience, awakens the 
sordid motives of his nature, and strangles his 
sense of independence and manhood. The 
vote-buyer, the corrupter of citizenship, the 
dealer in human franchise, is a character more 
contemptible than was the slave-driver of old. 
Verily, this is a noble occupation, worthy, in- 
deed, of a son of those who sought here a 
home, and freedom to worship God according 
to the dictates of their own consciences ! It is 
enough to make these sleeping veterans turn 
over in their graves, to have the privilege they 
so dearly bought made a thing of barter. On 



62 As Ithers See Us. 

the other hand, the vote-seller, the nonentity, 
the figurehead, the pawn on the political chess- 
board, is no more worthy of our respect. For 
a dime, or a drink, he will ofttimes sell him- 
self, and thus aid and abet the ruin of his 
country. Would that we had a law, and public 
opinion strong enough to enforce it, to dis- 
franchise every citizen who sold his vote ! I'll 
tell you, it is this pernicious practise that is 
producing so much political corruption. If the 
citizen has his price, why not the senator? 
If the citizen will sell his vote for a few dollars, 
why not the senator for a few thousands ? If 
the citizen betrays himself and the public in- 
terest, what right has he to blame the senator 
for betraying his constituency? Integrity at 
the polls must precede integrity in the council 
chamber. Let all the voters have a tender 
conscience in this matter, and its influence will 
soon reach the legislative halls, and cleanse 
them of their impurity. 

Our grandsires in the old-fashioned days 
went to Congress to make laws and adopt such 
measures as would do the greatest good to the 
greatest number, but in these enlightened 
times some men go there simply and solely to 
make money and to shape legislation to pro- 
mote the interests of the few. They go there 






Bribery. 63 

as the secret agents of Rum and Romanism, 
they go there as the hired tools of Mormonism 
and Monopoly, they go there as partizans and 
politicians actuated by prejudice and profit ; 
while the great principles and duties, the su- 
perb dignity and responsibility of. the patriot, 
are either forgotten or utterly ignored. By 
them government is not looked upon as an 
assembly of the wisest and best to devise means 
for the people's good, but simply as a business 
in which the greatest trickster gets the largest 
share. Now if we would reform this deplorable 
state of affairs in our political life we must 
begin at the very bottom and elevate the voter 
and cleanse the ballot-box. 



PARTIZANSHIP. 

ANOTHER evil is partizanship. This is fanat- 
ical devotion to party. It makes this the 
first and chief consideration and the character 
of the candidate a secondary matter. Now, 
a man is a partizan for one of two reasons or 
for both. The first reason is prejudice. He 
was rocked in the cradle of his party. From 
his very infancy its principles were instilled 
into his mind. Long before he knew their 
significance he said, I am a Republican or a 
Democrat, as the case might be. When asked 
why, he unhesitatingly answers, because my 
father is one. It would be harder for a man like 
this to change his party than to change his 
name. It is a common thing for a man to 
change his opinions. Every thinking person 
does eitherpartially or radically. Each new dis- 
covery, each new circumstance, modifies them 
somewhat. An unthinking person, however, 
never changes. Narrowed by his prejudices, 
he runs along in the same old groove to-day, to- 
morrow and forever. Now and then such an 

6 4 



Partizanship. 65 

one boasts that he is guided by his principles. 
Perhaps he is, but these do not fit new condi- 
tions. More likely he is governed by an in- 
definable affection for a vague something that 
has long since ceased to exist. He is so at- 
tached to his party, his father's and his grand- 
father's party, that he will vote for any man, 
no matter how corrupt, just so he stands upon 
his platform. Now, I believe in devotion to 
principle. Each thinking man has certain 
ideas of government, and these are found for 
the most part in the platform of his party. 
The platform is his political creed, and of course 
he is strongly attached to it. But he should 
have regard likewise for the man who stands 
upon it. A sound platform and a good man 
should go together. If you have a bad plat- 
form and a good man upon it you may con- 
fidently expect that he will do what is just and 
honest whether it be exactly according to your 
way of thinking or not. But if you have a 
good platform and a rascal upon it you may 
rest assured that he will make as much out of 
it for himself and as little for the public as pos- 
sible. Therefore vote for the man. Of course 
in Federal politics, where national interests are 
at stake, where the great questions of currency, 
banking, tariff and extension of territory are 
5 



66 As Ithers See Us. 

concerned, then it is wise for a man to stick to 
his party. But in local and municipal affairs, 
where the only thing at stake is the fitness and 
ability of the candidate, then the party should 
be forgotten and the man considered. It is 
this blind adherence to party that is building 
up political machines throughout the country. 
Stick to your party is the cry of the politician ; 
never scratch your ballot, and so long as men 
do that the ringsters can put in whom they 
w r ill. Three-fourths of the party are thus 
made the tools and dupes of the few. Prej- 
udice blinds their eyes and the politicians rule 
their w T ills. 

The second and most potent reason why a 
man is a partizan is profit. The attraction for 
him is that political plum away off in the dim 
distance. He has respect not unto the right 
but unto the recompense. The spoils of office 
are the property of the successful ticket, and 
only those who helped to win shall help to 
enjoy. It is a question of you vote for me and 
use your influence in my behalf and Til give 
you a position under my administration. " To 
the victors belong the spoils," is the most per- 
nicious maxim that ever had place and practise 
in American politics. It runs counter to the 
plainest principles of representative government 



Partizanship. 67 

and the plainest duties of citizenship. And yet 
nothing is more favored as a party shibboleth 
than that all offices should be vacated at each 
change of administration and filled with the 
friends and minions of those in power. And 
the approval of this doctrine is not confined to 
party bosses and their followers, who alone 
profit by its application, but is shared by a 
large number of our best people in both parties. 
The enlightened citizen who believes a public 
office to be a public trust, whose conscience 
directs that his ballot should be cast but to 
subserve a public purpose and not to promote 
a personal and too often an unlawful gain, 
should awake to the danger arising from this 
pernicious system. 

According to this government is looked 
upon as a business not for promoting the 
general welfare, but as affording opportu- 
nity for the enrichment of politicians. Some 
men who could scarcely make a living at 
anything else go into this, and in a few 
years they are robed in purple and fine linen, 
and are faring sumptuously every day. It is 
these loaves and fishes of office that the parti- 
zan has in view when he works his ward and 
casts his vote. It is the almighty dollar 
shining in its brilliancy afar that charms his 



68 As Ithers See Us. 

eye and makes him such a strong supporter of 
his party. Remember then that prejudice and 
profit are the two great hands that mold 
and shape that peculiar character known as 
the partizan. 



INDIFFERENCE. 

This is a fault that is found in some of our 
best people. Many of those who ought to be 
most interested in the public welfare stand idly 
by in a state of indifference. Often the wisest 
and most capable citizens keep aloof from 
political life, and in so doing think they are 
acting in a praiseworthy way, while really they 
are neglecting a specific duty. Every man 
owes it to his fellow-men to do all he can to 
secure wise legislation and economical expendi- 
ture of public funds ; and when he boasts that 
he has nothing to do with politics, he simply 
acknowledges his delinquency. 

One of the causes of this indifference is busi- 
ness. To make a comfortable living is, of 
course, the first thing on every honest man's 
program. The duties of his occupation absorb 
his time and thought. The plea of such a man 
is, I have my business to attend to and, there- 
fore, have no time for politics. I pay my taxes, 
vote when it is convenient, but aside from this 
I take no interest in public affairs, Now, un- 

6 9 



70 As Ithers See Us. 

deniably, it is a man's chief duty to look after 
his own household and to be diligent in his 
business, but he should not forget that his busi- 
ness is both private and public. Were he a 
Robinson Crusoe on his little island, it would 
be strictly private. But in this land, where he 
is related to his fellow-men in a hundred differ- 
ent ways, it is also public. He has private 
duties and public duties, and he who shrinks 
from the latter does not meet the obligations 
of a citizen. It is just as binding upon a man 
to fight his country's enemies with the ballot as 
with the bullet. It is just as much his duty to 
stand by the polls and see that an honest vote 
is cast as to shoulder his musket and march off 
to war. Instead of folding his hands in in- 
dolence, every upright citizen should make it 
his business to acquaint himself with the dark 
and devious ways of the political machine, and 
thus be able on all occasions to oppose intel- 
ligently and effectively this gorgon of selfish- 
ness and greed. The patriot should not allow 
private affairs to interfere with his duty to his 
country. 

Another cause of this indifference is political 
corruption. And we can very readily understand 
the force of this excuse. Undoubtedly it does 
tax the olfactory nerve to the utmost to endure 



Indifference. 71 

the stench of Ouayism. Naturally self-respect- 
ing men hold themselves aloof from such pollu- 
tion. Frequently we hear them say there is 
too much crookedness, dishonesty and chican- 
ery in politics for us. A person is known by 
the company he keeps. We do not care to 
stand upon the same platform with men who 
filch the treasury and disgrace the country, 
hence the further we are from the polls the 
more comfortable we feel. Now, we can hardly 
blame men for taking such a stand ; and yet is it 
the right spirit to show? is it the wise thing to 
do ? Is it not because of this very thing that 
there is so much corruption to-day? If the 
good people of the country, if the Christian 
citizens of the land, stand back and allow selfish, 
ambitious demagogues to control city, state and 
national affairs, the country will sink lower still 
in the mire of political degradation. 'Tis high 
time that we shook off this lethargic indiffer- 
ence, and by voice and vote put down the evils 
of our land. 'Tis high time that the polls be 
made respectable and be thronged and con- 
trolled by intelligent, upright citizens rather 
than by blue-coated roughs and repeating 
toughs. 'Tis high time the patriots of the 
country banded themselves together irrespec- 
tive of party and moved in unbroken phalanx 



72 As Ithers See Us. 

against political wickedness in high places. 
Then, and not until then, will we have honest 
government, pure politics and a country of 
which we need not be ashamed. 



CHURCH. 

THE CONGREGATIONAL BOSS. 

At present the word boss has a new and pe- 
culiar significance and is somewhat in disrepute. 
It hasn't the honor of the overseer connected 
with it, not even the dignity of the taskmaster, 
but is surrounded with the odium of the 
usurper. It refers to one who rules by guile 
or force and not by delegated authority. 

Our country is rapidly coming under the 
domination of political bosses who rule and fool 
the masses as though they were suckling babes. 
The will of the bosses is the law of the land 
and the people are as so many pawns on the 
chess-board. The till of the bosses is the 
treasury of the land out of which they draw for 
private purposes what the citizens put there 
for public improvement. 

But this is not the kind of boss to whom I 
wish to pay my respects. There is an officious 
individual found in churches sometimes who 
has been aptly styled " the congregational 

' 73 



74 As Ithers See Us. 

boss." This is my man. He is one of the 
chief actors in the ecclesiastical hive, but, so 
far as I know, his peculiar calling has never 
been fully described. It is not a new one, how- 
ever, for we read in Scripture of one Diotraphes 
who- — it is said — loved the preeminence, and 
this by the way is the distinctive badge of the 
aforesaid. He is under the impression that he 
has seen some burning bush and heard some 
strange voice, and has therefore received a 
sort of Mosaic appointment to boss the rest of 
the brethren. He is a rank imperialist in ec- 
clesiastical affairs and quickly quenches any 
manifestation of the spirit of democracy. 
Usually he is a very good man, but the ego is 
too much in the ascendency and the desire to 
rule or ruin entirely too prominent. Because 
of intelligence, wealth or social position he is 
elevated somewhat above his neighbors, and 
he thinks this gives him the inalienable right 
to dictate the policy of Zion without regard to 
their wishes. Centurion-like he says to Elder 
A. come and he cometh, to Deacon B. go and he 
goeth, and to Pastor C. do this and he doeth 
it — sometimes. If he has his own way and 
people and pastor quietly submit, the ma- 
jority, tired of being simply figureheads, soon 
lose interest and wander away. But if he is 



Church. 75 

opposed, the congregation is constantly stirred 
up, and the minister continually in a state of 
nervous trepidation, with his off-eye ever look- 
ing longingly for other green pastures where 
gossips cease from gabbing and bosses give 
us rest. Where there is a church of the people, 
for the people and by the people, there we 
usually find peace and harmony. But where 
one or two boss chancel, church and choir, 
dictating the doctrine to be preached and the 
methods to be pursued, there we find dissatis- 
faction and trouble. 

Between pastor and people there is a close 
relation. They are wearing a yoke, and if they 
pull together the load, however large, can be 
easily hauled. But if some stubborn ox on 
the off-side takes it in his head to go the other 
way or not at all, the load is left in the mud, 
and the patient leader whose is the responsi- 
bility has a galled neck, a tired frame and a con- 
sciousness of failure, though not the cause of 
it, as his reward. 

Now when the time comes to give an ac- 
count of the wrecks along Zion's road, of 
church factions, fights and splits, I wonder 
whose names will be called and who will have 
to stand before the judge. Do not misunder- 
stand me. I do not excuse the leader. Oft- 



76 As Ithers See Us. 

times his inexperience and foolish determina- 
tion to have his own way at any cost make 
no end of trouble. But as his cup of criticism 
is already full, I'll confine my remarks to my 
subject. 

Bossism in church is as detrimental to the 
general welfare as in state. It decreases indi- 
vidual interest and lessens individual pride and 
responsibility. It hinders the pastor in the ad- 
ministration of affairs. It divides the congre- 
gation into factions and sets the members to 
fighting each other instead of the devil. It 
makes bitter enemies out of friends, intensifies 
class antipathies and breaks into shreds the 
" tie that binds." 

Oh, this love for the preeminence, this desire 
to be seen of men ! if it could be transmuted into 
love for Christ and the Church, what a mighty 
force it would be in Zion ! If this pharisaical 
pride could be transformed into Pauline zeal, 
what an army of workers we would have ! 
Would that there was a realization of the 
truth that the greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven is not he who bosses but he who serves ! 



STRAINING AT GNATS. 

SCRUPULOSITY is goody-goody hair-splitting. 
It is slavish adherence to the letter in trifling 
non-essentials. Such a disposition is produced 
by a tyrannical conscience trained in the strict 
school of Pharisaism. Partially enlightened by 
the letter of the law but by no means sweet- 
ened by the love of the Spirit, such a conscience 
is the most carping, fault-finding, disagreeable 
companion one can possibly have. Biased by 
prejudice and bigotry and ruled by the com- 
mandments of men, it runs counter to the 
plainest dicta of common sense, and like a busy- 
body goes around attending to every one's 
affairs except its own. In public it is ever look- 
ing for gnats and landing them high* and dry 
in the strainer of criticism, while at home no 
doubt it swallows camels without a thought. 
People afflicted with this trouble have micro- 
scopic eyes. A mole-hill to them looks like a 
mountain, and, strange to say, a mountain 
sometimes like a mole-hill. They are con- 
stantly magnifying little things and laying 

77 



78 As Ithers See Us. 

stress on non-essentials, while perhaps they 
neglect weightier matters. It is needless to say 
that they are just a little bit disagreeable, and 
in their presence — I must confess — there is not 
always " fulness of joy/' By their puritanical 
long-facedness and foolish scrupulosity, they 
make Christianity a medicine instead of a meat, 
something to be endured, not enjoyed, and 
hedge about the happy spirit on every side with 
a stern " Thou shalt not." On account of this 
super-conscientious sense of duty they make 
missionary tours into realms not their own and 
interfere in matters wholly beyond their con- 
cern. 

Once upon a time a young man's name was 
brought up for consideration at a council meet- 
ing of a vacant congregation. He was discussed 
pro and con. His merits and demerits were 
commented upon in pious vernacular. The 
conclusion arrived at was that he was a passable 
and possible candidate. Suddenly an old 
father in Israel of equal parts of prejudice and 
piety remembered that this young theologue 
was somewhat dudish. His hair wasn't parted 
in exactly an orthodox way. He was accus- 
tomed to erect a perpendicular over the north- 
west corner of his left eye, and at the intersec- 
tion of this with the top wrinkle of his brow he 



Straining at Gnats. 79 

parted his raven tresses. Unfortunately it was 
a wee bit too near the middle. Oh, that he 
had chosen " that good part " which is on the 
side and which would hot have been taken from 
him ! Then too this same youngster had a 
carnal hankering after clean linen, and tried as 
he had opportunity to keep the dust off his 
clothes ; and because of these visible signs of 
the lack of invisible grace, he was immediately 
condemned, but on account of his extreme 
youth was allowed quietly to " pass by on the 
other side." 

Another young man was candidating. He was 
a profound thinker and an eloquent preacher. 
His sermon this morning was unusually good, 
as the trial sermon usually is. 1 have heard 
somewhere that it is generally the flower of the 
barrel. For half an hour he held his congrega- 
tion spellbound with his eloquence. At the 
conclusion one lady in speaking of him said, 
" Yes, he is a fine preacher, his thought was ex- 
cellent, logically arranged and beautifully 
expressed ; but he has one fault, his hair doesn't 
harmonize with the frescoing." It was a griev- 
ous fault and grievously he answered for it. 

Straining at gnats ! It is a very unremunera- 
tive occupation and is in no sense a means of 
grace. And yet some people think it is their 



8o As Ithers See Us. 

special calling. They are scrupulous about 
little things, and yet when it comes to mani- 
festing the kind, forgiving spirit and sweet dis- 
position of the Master they are wofully defi- 
cient. Give me the joyous happy Christian 
with all his faults rather than the haughty, 
bigoted, prejudiced Pharisee tithing his mint, 
anise and cummin. 



THE MINISTER'S SIXTH SENSE. 

The minister is a remarkable being, a very 
peculiar specimen of the genus homo. Being 
the son and successor of the prophets, he is 
thought to possess not only the five senses of 
ordinary laity, but a sort of sixth sense as well. 
This faculty seems to be a " donum superaddi- 
tum " supernaturally imparted to the clergy. 
It is something akin to omniscience accom- 
panied by omnipresence. Possibly it is some 
unexplained telepathic power by means of which 
he is expected to know immediately everything 
that occurs in his parish. Invisible telephone 
wires are supposed to radiate from his study 
window to the different homes of his flock, and 
sitting there at central with aching brow writing 
his sermon, be is expected to know the very 
instant Sister Smith gets the toothache or 
Deacon Jones take a cold. The war-horse with 
nose upraised sniffs the battle from afar, and 
the minister is likewise supposed to be expert 
in the use of this same organ in discovering the 
pains and aches of his people, and when from 
6 81 



82 As Ithers See Us. 

some unknown cause it fails him, another thorn 
is added to his crown. 

Now let me tell you something. The min- 
ister, strange to say, is just like other people. 
He has to find out things in the ordinary nat- 
ural way. If he doesn't happen to call, if some 
body doesn't happen to tell him, his members 
may get sick and get well before he knows it. 
But some people don't look at it in this way. 
They take no pains to apprise him of illness, 
and yet if he fails to discover it, greet him 
afterwards with disgruntled coolness. Please 
don't do so any more. This thing about his 
having a sixth sense is all a delusion. He has 
just ordinary common sense, and sometimes not 
any too much of that, so don't blame him for 
absence when it is due to ignorance. 



SLEEPY SERVICE. 

THIS is an age of activity. In religion as 
well as in business and politics the watchword 
is " Be up and doing." Earnest, whole-hearted 
worship is the only kind that is acceptable to 
God and pleasing to man. 

And yet despite this fact how often do we 
find lifeless, sluggish service. The prayers are 
cold and indifferent, the singing solemn and 
draggy, and the sermon instructive but not in- 
teresting or inspiring. The enthusiasm which 
numbers generate is absent, while the lonesome 
languor which few inspire is present. The at- 
mosphere is productive of sleep and general 
relaxation. A delicious drowsiness for the time 
being settles down over the congregation. Dur- 
ing this interval of semi-consciousness the clock 
keeps time to the remarks of the speaker, the 
measured breathing of the dreamer, and per- 
chance the audible snorts of the unconscious 
snorer. At last the sermon ends, the benediction 
is said and the saints awake and depart, not 
much the better for the service perhaps, but 

% 



84 As Ithers See Us. 

right much improved by the sleep. Now such a 
service is a sort of cross between a funeral and 
a Friends' meeting. It is attractive to age, be- 
cause it induces sleep and is a sure cure for 
insomnia, but open-eyed, active youth wants 
something more lively and enthusiastic. 

This lifelessness in church produces more in- 
difference perhaps than any other cause. Peo- 
ple can sleep at home, and unless we make the 
service more interesting than their book and 
cozy corner, they w r ill not come. Human nat- 
ure as well as nature, follows the line of least 
resistance. It gravitates towards the object 
of strongest attraction. Hence our duty is 
plain. We should make the church the cheeri- 
est and the most interesting place on earth. 
We should devise every legitimate means to 
make it worth even a worldly-minded man's 
while to come. We should strive in every pos- 
sible way to make it the strongest magnet in 
the community. Then and not until then will 
the thoughtless and indifferent darken its doors. 



OTHER-WORLDUNESS. 

WHAT we call worldliness is doing things 
which may not be wrong in themselves, but 
which interfere with our spiritual growth and 
limit and pervert our usefulness. We may eat 
meat offered to idols, but if by doing so we 
cause a weaker brother to stumble, we have 
wrought an injury. All things are given us 
richly to enjoy. Some things, however, cannot 
be enjoyed temperately, hence the only safe 
plan is to eschew them entirely. Christians are 
living examples of Christ's teachings, and they 
should be scrupulously careful to do nothing 
to bring reproach upon their Master. One of 
the greatest hindrances to the growth of the 
Church to-day is the inconsistency and worldli- 
ness of its members. 

But there is such a thing as other- worldliness 
which is almost as great a fault. We have an 
illustration of this in the monastic and puritani- 
cal spirit. It is withdrawing from men and 
living too much above the clouds. Its dev- 
otees timidly hide in caves, while others with 

8 5 



86 As Ithers See Us. 

less goody-goodyism, but more spiritual man- 
hood are fighting the evil in the world. While 
other-worldliness is praying in formal effemi- 
nate whines, sturdy Christianity is mixing with 
men and leavening every relation of life. Chris- 
tians are salt to counteract impurity and save 
the earth, but this is impossible unless they 
come in close contact with it. And yet when 
this is done a hue and cry is raised by those 
very ones who claim to be the light of the 
world. So long as the preacher talks of things 
that happened three thousand years ago and 
condemns and recondemns the poor old Jews, 
he is strictly orthodox ; but when he dares to 
lift his voice against the flagrant evils of the 
day, pious hands are raised in holy horror and 
the minister is told to stick to the Bible and 
keep in " his proper speer." When he preaches 
against divorce — that abominable evil that is 
undermining the American home ; — against hy- 
pocrisy — that two-faced sin that is gnawing at 
the very vitals of the Church ; — against intem- 
perance — that gloating demon that coins his 
gold out of orphans' cries and widows' tears ; — 
against wickedness in high places — that nest of 
refined vermin that is infecting society and mak- 
ing it selfish and heartless ; — and against polit- 
ical corruption — that awful scab on the heart of 



Other- Worldliness. 87 

our national life ; — when he speaks of these 
things he is called sensational and fanatical, 
and is told that such preaching desecrates the 
pulpit and discredits the ministry. Now it can 
very readily be seen why the w r orld, the flesh 
and the devil should object to such practical 
talk, but why Christians should is a mystery. 
For this is the very kind of preaching that Christ 
and the prophets and the apostles did. They 
denounced the wrongs of their time and gave 
helpful suggestions with reference to the cares 
and affairs of daily life, and if the preacher is 
to follow in the footsteps of the prophet, it is 
his duty to raise both hand and voice against 
evil wherever it may lift its serpent head. It 
is his duty to unearth and oppose wrong-doing 
in all places and under all circumstances. He 
has something more to do than simply to sit 
upon the mount of contemplation and sing 
psalms or to stand behind the sacred desk and 
intone platitudes. It is because religion is di- 
vorced from life and the preacher's mouth closed 
with reference to the shady ways of business, 
society and politics that so much corruption 
exists to-day. It is because Christianity lifts up 
its skirts and holds itself aloof, that the forces 
of the demagogue are so strongly entrenched 
in municipal and national affairs. The preacher 



88 As Ithers See Us. 

is the watchman set upon the wall of both 
State and Church, and when he sees the enemy 
and sounds the warning note, instead of con- 
demning him, we should rally to his side. 



THE CONVENTION CRAZE. 

One of the great watchwords of the present 
day is organization. Societies, associations, 
guilds and unions are rapidly multiplying and 
replenishing the earth. Machinery of this 
kind is being manufactured now by wholesale 
in every sphere of life. Especially is this so 
in the Church. That body is being organized 
to death and the result is, power is dissipated, 
a little bit of everything is undertaken and not 
much of anything accomplished. 

The next step after forming an organization 
is to have a convention. A convention is a 
meeting of representatives from the different 
kindred organizations, a sort of family reunion 
as it were. The object of a convention is to 
eatandtalk with the accent on the antepe- 
nult. It is troubled about much serving and 
talks much about nothing. The most notice- 
able and practical result of a convention is the 
wasting of car-fare and the killing of time. In 
fact I know of no enterprise that can compete 

with it in diminishing returns. It has produced 

89 • 



90 As Ithers See Us. 

that peculiar character which we might call the 
ecclesiastical gadabout, all of whose energy is 
spent on the wing from meeting to convention, 
and who therefore has no time left for reading, 
thought or work. 

There are conventions now every day, every- 
where and of every kind. The trouble has be*- 
come epidemic and doubtless w r ill have to run 
its course. Every mail brings an invitation to 
attend some conference meeting. And of 
course you have to go and in duty bound say 
that you have been very much pleased and prof- 
ited, while the tired, unconcealable, bored ex- 
pression on your face tells a somewhat differ- 
ent tale. Suppose you don't go, then you are 
branded with the stigma of being unprogressive 
and not public-spirited. If you dare to stay 
away and plead that you can get more benefit 
from a good book full of thought than from 
convention talk, you are called slow and behind 
the times. And if you have the foolhardiness 
to lift your voice against this progressive time- 
killing institution, hands are lifted in holy 
horror and you are regarded as an iconoclast 
and a heretic. 

It is a good thing I admit to come together 
and talk over methods and problems and 
awaken interest and enthusiasm. Inthemulti- 



The Convention Craze 91 

tude of counselors there is wisdom and in 
union there is strength. This sort of thing in 
moderation is very beneficial. But when it 
demands the floor all the time, then surely we 
cannot be blamed for entering a feeble pro- 
test. The Christian worker has other duties 
besides eating and handshaking, and if he 
chooses to do these rather than run every time 
the convention whistle blows, then for good- 
ness* sake keep the wagging tongue of criticism 
quiet and let him do them. Please bear in 
mind that he is just as faithful a servant of the 
Lord who stays at home and does his work, as 
the so-called progressive electric runabout. To 
manufacture enthusiasm all the time and give 
it no practical expression is worthless. 

Now it is not the convention per se that 
I declaim against, but the convention carried 
to extremes. Sugar is sweet and palatable, 
but eat to excess and it nauseates. It is just 
the same with convention pabulum. Too 
much will destroy our appetite and turn us 
against it. Carried to extremes the convention 
defeats its own purpose and becomes self-de- 
structive. Make a thing too common and it 
loses its influence and attraction. To pre- 
serve then this institution we should decrease 
the quantity and increase the quality. 



INHOSPITALITY. 

Hospitality is one of the crowning graces 
of home. It is the link which unites the 
domestic circle with the social world, and is 
a means for the development of the spirit 
of kindness and unselfishness. The hearth 
around which hospitality does not smile is a 
cheerless place indeed. The family board at 
which we never see a stranger's face is out of 
touch with the stream of life. 

In the past this grace was practised more than 
now. Hospitality was the pride and boast of 
our grandsires. In those days the latch-string 
always hung on the outside, and at the threshold 
smiling welcome ever greeted the tired stran- 
ger. In these progressive times, however, this 
unselfish virtue is not so much in vogue, and 
when we consider the reasons we are not sur- 
prised at its decadence. One of these is self- 
ishness. There is no denying the fact that 
civilization and materialism produce a refined 
selfishness unknown in the primitive days of 

our fathers. The inn and the railroad have also 
92 



Inhospitality. 93 

had their influence upon this practice, rendering 
it no longer necessary. But perhaps the most 
potent cause of the decadence of open-doored 
. hospitality is the fact that the unscrupulous 
and designing abuse it. They take advantage 
of the kindness of people, impose on good 
nature and leech-like suck the life-blood of their 
friends. 

But while there are certain conditions at the 
present time that limit this grace in the home, 
there is nothing to hinder its full and free ex- 
ercise in the Church. The Church is the Chris- 
tian's home and all the followers of Christ are 
brethren. Above its door is written, " Who- 
soever will may come." A cordial invitation is 
extended to all to share the joys and privileges 
of this sacred abode. And yet when discour- 
aged strangers, presuming that we mean what 
we say, put in their appearance, are we as hos- 
pitable to them as we should be ? When they 
come do we always extend to them the wel- 
come handshake and the kind " Come again " ? 
Are we so courteous and cordial in manner as 
to make them feel that they are in the midst of 
sympathetic friends? Is there not a great deal 
of thoughtlessness and indifference with refer- 
ence to this matter? 

A Boston minister once preached on " The 



94 As Ithers See Us. 

recognition of friends in the future/' and was 
told after the service by a hearer that it would 
be more to the point to preach about the rec- 
ognition of friends here, as he had been in the 
church for twenty years and didn't know even 
one of its members. There is a great deal in 
this. There are many members of the same 
Church that will have to be introduced when 
they get to heaven. Consistency is indeed a 
jewel. You doubtless have heard of the man 
who while fumbling in his pocket amidst dollars 
and eagles for a penny to put in the collection 
plate heartily sang, 

" Were the whole realm of nature mine 
That were a present far too small." 

Now that Christian is at least as inconsistent 
who, while rapt in the joy of the reunion of 
God's people hereafter, draws up his skirts and 
turns up his nose at the humble disciple by his 
side. Some time ago fighting " Bob " Evans 
strayed into an aristocratic church in New York 
City and took a seat in a vacant pew. In a little 
while a pompous gentlemap with a gleaming 
stucTand a precocious son came and sat beside 
him. This gilded worshiper glared angrily at 
the daring intruder for a moment and then took 
out his card and wrote, " I pay five hundred 



Inhospitality. 95 

dollars a year for the exclusive use of this pew," 
and handed it to the gallant fighter. The latter 

after reading it wrote beneath, " You pay a 

sight too much for it," signed his name Evans, 
U. S. N., and then handed it back to the great 
man. There is many a fellow with the dollar- 
mark upon him who is by no means composed 
of an hundred common sense. And here and 
there we find one bearing the superscription of 
Christian who even in God's own house does 
not manifest as much courtesy and politeness 
as a heathen. 

What a blessed thing it is for brethren to 
dwell together in unity ! How attractive the 
church becomes when every one who enters its 
doors is embraced in the genial circle of true 
friendship ! How homelike Zion is when 
thoughtful members give the poor, the modest 
and the strange a hearty welcome ! Ofttimes 
the kind words of considerate people do a dis- 
couraged, troubled one more good than an 
eloquent sermon. We are all susceptible to the 
influence of sympathy and the power of recog- 
nition. Just a word of cheer will sometimes lift 
us out of the slough of despond and strengthen 
us to bear our burdens ; while a haughty in- 
difference will send us away with a heavier heart 
than when we came. We should not be so in- 



96 As Ithers See Us. 

fluenced by others as to have our happiness or 
unhappiness depend upon what our fellow-men 
say about us and upon the way they act toward 
us. But the truth of the matter is, many of us 
are just that sensitive and weak. We are 
equally susceptible to their indifference and to 
their kindly interest. If this be true then what 
a field of usefulness there is for the exercise of 
church hospitality ! 

One evening at the Christian Association 
Hall in Philadelphia, a young man wandered 
into the meeting. He was a stranger and 
seemed troubled and discouraged. He sat list- 
lessly through the service, and at its conclusion 
rose abruptly and started out. One of the 
secretaries followed him, gave him a cheery 
welcome and invited him into the reception- 
room. They sat down and entered into a con- 
versation. The discouragement of the one 
and the sympathy of the other soon cemented 
their friendship. The stranger told his story, 
and at last said that when he left the room he 
was on his way to the Delaware to drown him- 
self. Saved by true Christian hospitality! 

" Only a thought in passing, a smile, an encouraging word, 
Has lifted many a burden no other gift could have stirred. " 



THE PREACHER'S EDUCATION. 

EDUCATION consists of two parts, viz., im- 
pression and expression. There is a pouring 
in of ideas, and after these have been brewed in 
the brain, then there is a drawing out of words 
and actions. Education, it is needless to say, 
literally means drawing out, and he is the best 
teacher who does not look upon the mind 
merely as a tank which he is to fill with 
truths and facts, but as a living organism which 
he is to stimulate to think and to collect facts 
for itself. The object of education is not 
simply to give a lot of dry information, but to 
awaken a hunger and thirst for truth. The 
business of the teacher in this practical age is 
not merely to give a mass of comparatively 
useless knowledge, but to train men and 
women to do something. For after all it is 
not how much one knows, but how much he 
can tell and how much he can do that is of im- 
portance. Of what use is an encyclopedic 
mind if it have not the tact or ability to 
transfer its knowledge to others? A brain 
7 97 



98 As Ithers See Us. 

may absorb like a sponge, it may be a regular 
library of information, but if the channels of 
expression are blocked, it is of no practical 
benefit either to its possessor or to the world. 

Now in the past our educational methods 
have had this one fault, there has been too 
much pouring in and too little drawing out. 
We have been bottling information, instead of 
developing power. We have been cramming 
the mind with words, dates, battles, statistics 
and dead languages, and have neglected to ac- 
quaint it with the ordinary questions and duties 
of daily life. In consequence of this we have 
men who know a great deal but who can do 
little ; men whose heads are almost bursting 
with the lore of the ages but who do not ac- 
complish as much as many who know a thou- 
sand times less ; learned men who ofttimes go 
begging for a position while tactful, practical 
people who are acquainted only perhaps with 
the facts and conditions of the present day are 
everywhere in demand. Too much ancient 
learning and too little modern wisdom, accom- 
panied by too much impression and too little 
expression. I am glad that the educational 
world is waking up to this defect in its system 
and realizing that " Expression is necessary to 
evolution," and that the how of preaching 



The Preacher's Education. 99 

and teaching is just as important as the 
what. 

Let us apply this now to the pulpit and 
speak of the kind of education the preacher 
needs. I do not presume to tell you anything 
new here, but simply to emphasize things, the 
importance of which we all recognize. One of 
the requirements in a preacher's education — I 
leave out of this discussion entirely his mes- 
sage—is a knowledge of human nature. Talk 
about psychology, however, and it is usually 
the occasion for a laugh or sneer. And yet 
the Bible is the greatest work on practical 
psychology ever written. It is the science of 
the soul. It rends the veil and reveals to us 
the mysteries of the Holy of Holies of our 
being. It makes us acquainted with our weak- 
nesses and sins and our powers and possibil- 
ities. It shows us what is in man and gives 
us a practical illustration of every vice and 
every virtue. Here we see the intricate work- 
ing of the human soul under every possible set 
of influences and circumstances. The Bible is 
a glass through which we can observe the dif- 
ferent characteristics of our spirit and see our- 
selves as God sees us. 

And yet we seldom study it from this stand- 
point, Our preaching is too much about God 

L.ofC. 



ioo As Ithers See Us. 

and too little about man, too much about the 
joys of the world to come, and too little about 
the realities of the life that now is. In our 
dreamy speculations we soar away on our theo- 
logical wings and forget the waiting people 
below hungering for the bread of life. 

Now to be true spiritual physicians we must 
know psychology as well as theology, our man 
as well as our message. In order that the 
sermon may be a word in season, the minister 
must study the natures and w r ants of his people. 
It is just as foolish for a preacher to preach at 
random not knowing the needs of his parish- 
ioners as for a physician to prescribe medicine 
without knowing the symptoms of his patient. 
If we would minister to a mind diseased, if we 
w r ould touch the hidden springs of this machine 
so fearfully and wonderfully made, or, to use 
a more graphic figure, if we would plant in its 
fertile soil the seeds of eternal truth, we must 
thoroughly understand its nature. If we would 
make men think as we think and feel as we feel 
and do as we direct, we must be fully acquainted 
with the subtle workings of the human mind. 
" He that winneth souls is wise." 

The business man uses his knowledge of men 
for his own enrichment, the politician for his 
individual advancement, the diplomat for the 



The Preacher's Education. 101 

settlement of international disputes ; but the 
preacher can use his knowledge of men for their 
present and eternal good, the extension of 
Christ's kingdom and the glory of God. Let 
us then study to show ourselves approved unto 
God, workmen that need not be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word of truth, and that we 
may divide it aright let us acquaint ourselves 
with those who are to receive it. 

It is in accordance with the eternal fitness of 
things to suit your instrument to your work. 
It was Paul's rule — and a greater psychologist 
never lived — wherein principle was not sacrificed 
" to become all things to all men/' When he 
was with a Jew he talked of things that appealed 
to Jews. When he was on Mars Hill he tact- 
fully mentioned things that appealed to Greeks. 
When he made his defense before the Roman 
governor, he did it with all the skill and ability 
of the great orator that he was. And in this 
way, knowing men, he gained the attention and 
excited the interest of all. 

A second requirement to consider in the 
preacher's education has reference to his 
thought ; not what it is but its condition, not 
its nature but its vividness and arrangement. 
Is it a heterogeneous mass of learned lumber or 
a body of definite clearly organized knowledge ? 



102 As Ithers See Us. 

Is this cranium of ours an old garret filled with 
the musty accumulations of years, or is it the 
home of a systematic housekeeper, swept and 
garnished, everything having a place and every- 
thing in its place ? What is the condition of 
our thought ? 

The educational methods of the past tended 
to give the pupil a lot of isolated, unrelated 
facts and truths. There was a constant pour- 
ing in of mental pabulum collected from every 
field of knowledge. It was gathering material 
all the time and a man's scholarship was meas- 
ured by the strength of his memory, and think- 
ing for himself and classifying his knowledge 
was out of the question. 

It may sound strange but it is true that a 
man with simply a memory is no more a 
scholar than the one who has collected the 
wood and stone for a house is an architect. 
Each has the materials ready for use, that is 
all. It is now that the skilled work really be- 
gins, and as much as mental exceeds manual 
labor so much does the thinker exceed the mere 
memory gland. The world, however, is just 
beginning to find this out. For centuries 
memory has been the index of scholarship, and 
system after system has been devised for the 
development of this faculty, Is it not high 



The Preacher's Education. 103 

time that we had a practical thinking system 
also ? If we are to gain power and be men of 
conviction our mental food must be digested 
and assimilated by meditation. It requires no 
great ability to collect facts. Any one can do 
this. The great thing is to organize them and 
get hold of their significance. 

Emerson says, " Genius is intellect construc- 
tive," and abetter or a briefer definition of that 
subtle something cannot be found. It is the 
imagination weaving something of unity and 
worth out of what we thought was rubbish in 
our garret. It is Shakespeare putting together 
in masterpieces of literature what any one has 
or can get. It is Robert Burns voicing the sen- 
timents w r e all feel and painting the pictures 
we all have seen. Genius is intellect unifying 
and vivifying the common experiences, facts, 
and truths which memory has gathered. If 
this be true then genius is capable of cultivation 
and need no longer be simply the heritage of 
the few but the attainment of the many. 

In our educational system, however, the 
training of the intellect constructive is given 
very little attention, and perhaps the reason for 
it is that in school our principal work is to 
acquire and in life to construct and create. But 
in the light of experience this is an erroneous 



104 As Ithers See Us. 

position. Every student knows that it is far 
easier to acquire when we have a purpose in 
mind than when our reading or study is desul- 
tory and unrelated. Therefore always study 
topically, organize your knowledge, get things 
into a logical as well as a chronological order, 
relate your learning and when you are asked to 
speak on a certain subject instead of searching 
through a heterogeneous mass of rubbish with 
the dimly lighted taper of memory, you will 
find everything you know about it in one little 
pigeon-hole of the brain bound together by the 
silken cord of association. How often after 
speaking do. we recall with chagrin and regret 
things a hundred times better than we said, and 
we say to ourselves, oh, if I had only thought 
of them while I was speaking, how much better 
my address would have been ! To avoid this 
unpleasant afterthought organize your knowl- 
edge and with a little practise you can give at 
a moment's notice everything you know on a 
given subject. 

Furthermore by constructing while w r e ac- 
quire we strengthen the memory. All the 
memory systems of the present day that are 
worth anything are founded upon this basal prin- 
ciple : think, associate, link together by either 
real or fancied resemblances your gleanings 



The Preacher's Education. 105 

from the field of knowledge, and with a little 
care and an occasional repetition they w r ill re- 
main with you as your permanent treasures. 

And not only will such a mental process 
strengthen the memory, but it will also vitalize 
our knowledge. I do not know exactly why it 
is, but there is nothing so dry and insipid as 
unrelated facts, and, on the other hand, there is 
nothing that so enchains the attention as to 
bind them together in order and show their 
significance. There is nothing interesting in a 
pile of wood, glass and stone ; but when out of 
them is constructed a modern palace, we stand 
before it lost in wonder and admiration. We 
care very little for a mass of unrelated facts and 
fancies, but when out of them is woven by the 
intellect constructive a Milton's " Paradise 
Lost," we have something to engage the atten- 
tion of men till the end of time. 

Verily one of the greatest needs of education 
to-day is the training of this faculty. Pupils 
should be taught to think as well as to remem- 
ber. Memory simply puts the food on the 
table, while thinking masticates it and converts 
it into power. " Knowledge is pow T er," but 
only when, and not until then, it passes through 
the intellect constructive. So I would say to 
the student, study with a purpose, put every 



106 As Ithers See Us. 

grain of knowledge you get into its proper 
place when you get it, and after a while this 
topsy-turvy heap of fragments will take on 
order and shape and what you know you will 
know well and what you know you can tell. 

A third requirement to consider in the 
preacher's education is style. It depends 
very much upon how our food is prepared 
whether we relish it or not. If it is well cooked 
and daintily spread on spotless linen with a 
little bouquet of flowers exhaling the breath 
of the morning in the center of the table and 
a smiling hostess to greet us at the head, an 
appetite is ofttimes awakened where before 
there was none, and we draw up our chairs 
with alacrity and heartily partake of the good 
things before us. But if, on the other hand, 
the same food is half-cooked and served in 
accordance with its preparation, just the sight 
of it will sometimes appease the appetite and 
we will not feel at all inwardly drawn toward 
the festal board. 

And as it is with physical so it is with mental 
food. It depends very much upon the way it 
is served whether an appetite will be created 
for it and it accomplish that whereunto it is 
sent. You know very well that it is not the 
teachers and preachers who know the most 



The Preacher's Education. 107 

who accomplish the most, but those who can 
tell what they know in a simple, interesting, 
attractive way. It is not those who have a 
lot of dry theological lore and the gift of three 
or four dead tongues who exert the greatest 
influence in the pulpit, but those who in ad- 
dition to these can use effectively their own 
grand old mother tongue. 

But you ask what are some of the faults of 
the pulpit style of the present day. Well, one 
is purposeless preaching. Some one has graph- 
ically said, " Sometimes we have something to 
say and sometimes we have to say something." 

Sometimes we have a red-hot message for 
the people and can scarcely contain ourselves 
until it is delivered, and sometimes it is our 
irksome duty to talk for half an hour. Now 
the preacher's main object is to persuade his 
people to live right. As a general thing they 
know their duty, what they need is the 
strength to do it. In this enlightened age they 
do not need information so much as inspiration. 
And this the preacher to a certain extent should 
give, and the way to give it is to have a practi- 
cal, clearly defined purpose in his mind and 
then bend every effort to accomplish it. The 
man who gives dry instruction all the time has 
hearers, a few, but the one who earnestly per- 



io8 As Ithers See Us. 

suades to definite ends has doers. And ten 
doers are worth an hundred hearers in any 
market in Christendom. They are the genuine 
coin of Zion, and the only ones that will pass 
current in the skies. Very few of them, how- 
ever, are produced by empty talk about the 
beautiful. Higher critical and hypercritical 
effusions do not influence many to go into the 
vineyard. and work. Dividing and subdividing 
little insignificant theological hairs never fired 
one with the zeal of a crusader or a missionary. 
Purposeless preaching awakens no responsive 
echo in the heart of man and is of about as 
much practical benefit as reciting poetry to a 
pigeon. 

Pointless platitudes is another fault. " Preach- 
ing which is the product of our own convic- 
tions is the only kind which is of value." One 
good thought hammered out on our own 
anvil and presented in our own language, with 
the earnestness which its originality arouses, 
awakens more interest than ten or twenty 
dry quotations from the Fathers. Such an one 
speaks with authority and power and not as the 
scribes. Compilations unless thoroughly di- 
gested and made our own are as sounding brass 
to the ears of our hearers. Only that which has 
the ring of conviction and life moves, while hear- 



The Preacher's Education. 109 

say talk and second-hand thought produce 
drowsiness and sleep. Pointless platitudes, 
vain repetitions, expressions out of which long 
usage has crushed all the sap and life, why, 
they make no more impression upon us than 
the monotonous dropping of the rain. 

Another fault is parableless expression. The 
greatest preacher the world ever knew pre- 
sented His truths in parables. He translated 
the unknown into terms of the known and 
clothed invisible thoughts in the language of 
visible things. He made divine truth tangible 
by presenting it in pictures familiar to His 
hearers. There are no abstractions in His teach- 
ings, but everything is simple and concrete. 

I fear that we do not follow in His footsteps 
in this respect. And the reason is perhaps we 
think it is not scholarly to use simple language 
and illustrate our discourses. If we so think 
we are sadly mistaken. Once learning was 
thought to consist in the misquotation of a 
few Latin phrases and the mispronunciation of 
four-footed words and creeping things. That 
day, thank goodness, is past. Now the great- 
est learning is clad in a garb of the greatest 
plainness. Once learning was thought to con- 
sist in taking a simple subject and present it 
in " words of learned length and thunderous 



no As Ithers See Us. 

sound " and make it appear mysterious and 
deep. Now that is reversed, and he who can, 
like the Master, take a profound subject and 
make it so simple a child can understand it is 
the scholar, and no one else, no matter how 
many foreign languages he can read and how 
much history he can quote, can justly claim 
the name. Oh, for less pedantry and more 
simplicity behind the sacred desk ! Sometimes 
we hear words there that have to be disjointed 
and digested a syllable at a time. Sometimes 
we hear preaching there that is very good, only 
the people do not understand it. It was said 
of a certain minister that for six days of the 
week he was invisible and on the seventh in- 
comprehensible. And he is not alone. There 
are others whose vague thoughts winged with 
big words are simply mouthfuls of badly articu- 
lated wind and never reach the conscience, 
hardly the consciousness of the dozing people. 
Tennyson's Northern Farmer described this 
kind of preaching exactly when he said : 

" I alius went to choorch afor my Sally wur dead, 
An' 'eard him a bummin away like a cockchafer ower my 'ead, 
An? I niver knowed whot V meaned, but I thowt 'e had sum- 

mut to say, 
An' I thowt 'e said what 'e owt to V said, an' I coomed 

away." 



The Preacher's Education. ni 

Is it not high time that we went back to Luther 
and spoke so that Hans and Kunz back by the 
stove could grasp our meaning. I maintain 
that the profoundest truths in the world can be 
presented in such a way that any ordinary mind 
can understand them. If a man has imagina- 
tion enough to clothe his thoughts in concrete 
form he can rest assured that it will be good 
seed sown in good ground. Psychology tells us 
that no abstract truth will be long retained by 
the memory unless firmly anchored there by 
an image of some kind. The only way to 
explain hidden things is by means of things 
which do appear. How well Christ understood 
this principle and by using parables how plain 
He made the way of life. Let the minister fol- 
low his Master both as to the matter and manner 
of preaching, and he will never go wrong. 

A fourth requirement to consider in the 
preacher's education is delivery. Man speaks 
three languages : the language of words, the 
language of tones and the language of physical 
expression. As preachers we are to speak the 
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 
truth, but when we speak only in the language 
of words, as many do, we tell scarcely half the 
truth. When we recite the service in a dron- 
ing; groaning way, when we read the sermon 



ii2 As Ithers See Us. 

in a monotonous sing-song manner, when we 
speak as though counting our words, showing 
no more life in face or form than a statue, then 
we are giving only words, and people can easily 
get them from books and papers. Now, if this 
is all we have to give them, if we have no spirit 
to breathe into these dead words and make them 
live, then we could save time and strength by dis- 
tributing copies of our sermons, or by putting a 
phonograph in our place. A sermon written is 
like man when he was created out of the dust 
of the ground. It's all there, but it's all dead. 
And as God breathed into man's nostrils the 
breath of life and made him a living soul, so the 
preacher, by his personality, must put power 
and inspiration in the sermon. A sermon 
written is like an arrow. It may be made of 
the strongest hickory, tipped with the finest 
diamond of Kimberley, and feathered with 
down from an angel's wing ; but if it has 
not the bow of a strong delivery to send it 
to its mark, it is worthless. Paul asks : " How 
can they hear without a preacher ? " and we 
might add, what is the use for a preacher 
if he cannot preach ? What avail fine pro- 
ductions if they fall still-born from the lips 
of stammering indifference ? What doth it 
profit the preacher to circumnavigate the world 



The Preacher's Education. 113 

of knowledge if he mouths his lines like a 
town-crier and gives the people nothing but 
words ? 

It often happens that the very thing he has 
to do he doesn't know how to do. What he 
says may be good enough, but the indifferent, 
lifeless way in which he sometimes says it is a 
travesty on the truth. Of course if his object 
is to produce sleep, nothing is more effective 
than his pious drawl ; for, to borrow a line from 
the immortal Gray, " His drowsy tinklings lull 
the dreamy fold." If he regards a sermon as a 
sort of theological lullaby to close in peaceful 
slumber the eyes of the weary laity, then he is 
to be congratulated on his admirable adaptation 
of the right means to the end in view. But if 
his object is instruction, stimulation and per- 
suasion he is decidedly off the track. 

Now men realize the importance of an earnest 
delivery and have tried in different ways to at- 
tain it. One thinks pronunciation is the path 
to eloquence, and so his spare moments are 
spent pouring over the lexicon. To his sensi- 
tive ear the misplacing of an accent is an awful 
discord. In consequence of this his pronuncia- 
tion becomes so painfully precise that it is posi- 
tively irritating. Not having the art to conceal 
art, which is the highest art, he calls attention 
. 4 



H4 As Ithers See Us. 

to himself rather than to his message, and thus 
feeds his people upon the empty husks of a 
magnificent pronunciation. 

Another thinks the assumption of a holy tone 
is the essential thing, and so he folds his hands 
in cherubimic fashion, gives his eyes a pious 
roll, and, as the poet says, " grunts real gospel 
groans. " It is unnatural and inexpressible 
agony in the minor key. It is interjectional 
noise exploded by forced emotion, and always 
awakens a creepy uncanny feeling in the congre- 
gation. The Bible, I know, speaks of groans 
that cannot be uttered, but I see no earthly use 
for them when a man is talking face to face 
with his fellow-men about the great questions 
of life and destiny. Such effeminate affecta- 
tion ill becomes the prophet of God, and robs 
him of the confidence and respect of manly 
men. There is no virtue or music either in a 
sanctimonious whine. Such notes are never 
found in the gamut of true eloquence, for elo- 
quence is simply the earnestness of conviction, 
and conviction always speaks in a grand manly 
tone. 

Another thinks a stentorian voice is the sine 
qua non of eloquence, and so he spends his time 
in developing the stately orotund. Now this 
tone corresponds to the swell in the organ, and 



The Preacher's Education. 115 

we naturally and unconsciously use it when we 
speak of things important, sublime and ma- 
jestic ; but we do not involuntarily use it all the 
time. Some speakers, however, with a false 
conception of this subject, use the swell tone 
from text to terminus and give little trivial 
subordinate statements as much noise and 
emphasis as their cardinal points and truths ; 
and not discerning the eternal fitness of things, 
lift up their voices as mightily in talking to 
twenty-five as in addressing a thousand. Now 
you know music to be interesting must have 
variety. The performer must touch both major 
and minor keys and mingle the thunder peals 
of the base with the gentle tones of the treble. 
And the same is true of human speech. If the 
speaker wheels his droning flight from exor- 
dium to peroration along the same dead level of 
wondrous noise, he produces a soothing effect 
very similar to that produced by the monoto- 
nous sing-song of the circular saw. Variety is 
what we want. It is the spice of speech as well 
as life. Are we to cultivate the orotund voice 
then? To be sure, but for the sake of truth 
and eloquence don't use the swell all the time. 
Now, one of the genuine remedies for a poor 
delivery is directness. Some men are like 
statues speaking ; no expression in their face, no 



n6 As Ithers See Us. 

animation in their voice, no motion of their 
members, to show that they are talking about 
anything to anybody in particular. Oblivious 
of their surroundings, they are like a schoolboy 
speaking his piece, the only mental faculty at 
work being memory. No directness, aiming at 
nothing, talking to nobody. Now the speaker 
to gain the attention of his audience must speak 
with them and not at them or over them. Paul 
had the right conception when he said, Come, 
let us reason together. Instead of rearing and 
ranting and tearing a passion to tatters and 
proving our doctrine orthodox by apostolic 
blows and knocks, we should enter into serious 
earnest conversation with our people. And 
this method of speaking will make our expres- 
sion, natural ; will give life, music and variety 
to our tones ; and will awaken within us a 
magnetism that will hold our hearers spell- 
bound. 

Then another remedy is sympathy. We 
should not only talk with but also feel with our 
people. Many an one's manner is direct 
enough, every word is caught and every thought 
understood, but no good effect is produced ; 
why, because the voice is harsh and unfeeling, 
the manner is brusque and unsympathetic, and 
the man a taskmaster reproving and command- 



The Preacher's Education. 117 

ing rather than a kind-hearted shepherd ten- 
derly leading. If we are to win people and in- 
fluence them by our speech, we must show them 
that we can be touched with the feeling of their 
infirmities. If we wish to stir their hearts and 
move their wills, we must bathe our thoughts 
in the sweet element of sympathy. These two 
then, directness and earnestness, are the prime 
essentials of eloquence, and without them . 
speech, however beautiful, is simply empty 
sound. 

And now in conclusion let me say that the 
pulpit is the most responsible position ever oc- 
cupied by a mortal being. In the great ladder 
of human occupation it is the topmost round. 
Therefore he who presumes to stand between 
God and man as the interpreter of divine truth 
should spare no labor or pains, not only to 
know it, but also how to express it. May the 
time soon came when the preacher will be skil- 
ful in the use of every weapon in the great 
armory of Rhetoric. May the time soon come 
when with the brush of his imagination he can 
paint a " Last Judgment " or a " Crucifixion, " 
with the chisel of clear perception cut out of a 
mass of abstractions an " Apollo Belvidere," 
with the pen of close observation array his 
thought in as beautiful a garb as ever epic or 



n8 As Ithers See Us. 

lyric wore, and with his aptitude for measure 
and cadence coin sentences that slip from his 
silvery tongue like singing birds and rippling 
waters. May the time soon come when like a 
master musician he can touch every key in the 
great organ of human emotion from the still 
small voice of the vox humana to the majestic 
trumpet tone. Then will man speak with 
authority and power ; then will the grand old 
gospel of peace be preached in all its richness, 
fulness and beauty ; and then will the preacher 
occupy that position and exert that influence in 
the world which his missions and theme justify. 



HOME. 

The sweet memories and hallowed associa- 
tions of childhood are clustered for the most 
part about two words, home and mother. On 
these two hang all the experiences of those 
dear early days. They are the capitals of the 
two great realms that lie spread over the by- 
gone years. Of all the beautiful places of 
earth there is none — be it ever so humble — 
like home, and of all the beautiful faces in 
the circle of humanity there is none — be it 
ever so homely — as sweet as mothers. These 
two words are consecrated in our memories 
and invested with a poetical charm that no 
others possess. 

" Around the fireside cluster the public and 
private virtues of the race," and upon the 
mothers to a great extent depends the weal or 
woe of the children of men. Ask those who 
have attained high positions in life, and how 
many of them acknowledge that their great- 
ness is due to the influence of a mother. " The 

hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." 

119 



120 As Ithers See Us. 

The noblest and most influential queen of earth 
is not she who wore Britain's gems, or she who 
sat upon Egypt's throne, but she who presides 
over the home. Home is the primary school 
and mother is the primary teacher of humanity. 
Home is the place to lay the foundations of 
character and mother's is the hand to lay them. 
The child is under her influence almost entirely 
during the formative period of its existence, 
and upon her depends its disposition and hab- 
its. We are told that the character is formed at 
fourteen, and that after that it requires a much 
greater effort to modify it than before. At that 
time the affections have been set upon certain 
things, the feet are walking in certain ways, the 
tastes and talents have been turned into certain 
directions, and it is hard to change them. 
While the clay is plastic you can mold it to 
almost any shape, but when it has grown firm 
and hard with age you can do little with it. 
During the tender pliable state of childhood, it 
is the mother's hand to a great extent that 
does the shaping. 

We can scarcely lay too much stress upon the 
influence of home and mother. With all its 
associations, pleasures and joys home is the 
most precious institution of earth and the best 
type we have of heaven. Home is the place 



Home. 121 

where the child lays down its burdens at its 
mother's feet, the place where the husband's 
cares and troubles are dispersed by the kindly 
sympathy of a gentle wife ; it is earth's heaven, 
and mother is the light thereof, and the source 
of joy and consolation to both husband and 
children. 

But even in this haven of rest and happiness 
there are imperfections. Many little disagree- 
able foxes cast their shadows across its thresh- 
old and rob it of light and joy. What some 
of those are let us now inquire. 



HOME-LIFE DECREASING. 

The first can scarcely be called a fault, rather 
is it an effect of a cause over which we have no 
control. It is the result of present tendencies 
and circumstances, but despite this fact it is 
nevertheless inimical. The fault is this, the de- 
crease in homes and home-life. And this means 
a decrease of patriotism and of the influence of 
the fireside. The home is the birthplace and 
nursery of patriotism. Indeed, love for country 
is but the evolution of love for home. A na- 
tion of homes is always a nation of patriots. 
Without a home a man is almost without a 
country. Without where to rest his head that 
he can call his own, he is a w r anderer and a 
stranger. Home furnishes the incentive to en- 
large and beautify, to plant the tree and flower 
and train the vine. A man's relation to the 
mansion on the hill or the cottage by the sea 
determines his interest in it. What a difference 
there is between ownership and stewardship ! 
The owner labors and sacrifices not only to in- 
crease the utility but also the convenience and 

122 



Home-Life Decreasing. 123 

beauty of his home. For its sake he becomes 
a public-spirited citizen and takes an interest in 
his country's welfare. On the other hand, the 
man who has nothing to bind him to one par- 
ticular place cares little for the affairs of the 
nation. Verily, it takes a home to make a pa- 
triot and the genial influences of the fireside to 
bring out the nobler traits of manhood. 

In the early history of our country nearly 
every man owned his home, and this accounts 
for the grand patriotism and sturdy manhood 
of our grandsires. As time goes on, owing to 
the decrease of public lands and the increase of 
mechanical power, the number of people who 
own their houses is becoming less and less. 
After a while a very few comparatively will own 
the nation and the rest will be stewards. Such 
a tendency is bound to increase indifference and 
selfishness and decrease patriotism. 

But not only is there a decrease in homes, 
there is also a decrease in home life. Outside in- 
fluences are decreasing the number and strength 
of home ties. In the mad rush for wealth in 
the midst of fierce competition, business is 
making the day longer and longer; club-life, 
the claims of society, the advantages of public 
instruction and the attractiveness of the enter- 
tainment world are usurping most of the night ; 



i24 As Ithers See Us. 

and home is becoming to many simply a place 
to eat and sleep. That beautiful domestic life 
that we all love so much is fast passing away. 

The fireside circle is being broken and the 
worshipers at the shrine of home fewer every 
year. Seldom do parents and children now 
gather together at eventide. Ofttimes the lat- 
ter are with the nurse or on the street while the 
mother is at the euchre party and the father 
at the club. Where once there was chatter, 
story and song, now nothing is heard save the 
lonesome chirp of the cricket and the soft foot- 
fall and the rattle of a key as the stragglers one 
by one come home. 

This should not be. Home should be first 
and outside duties and pleasures second. This 
grand old institution should be sacredly pre- 
served, for it is the corner-stone of our social 
and political fabric. Take it away and our 
country is doomed. Restore it its pristine sim- 
plicity and power and all the forces of earth 
cannot shake the commonwealth. 



PARENTAL INDIFFERENCE. 

If home is fast becoming a sort of boarding- 
house, the light of home is also being trans- 
formed. The strongest influence of that place 
is taking too much interest in outside affairs and 
leaving the little ones too much in the hands 
of servants. In the midst of a lot of artificial 
duties and obligations she is becoming indif- 
ferent to her great work in life, which is the 
training of her children. 

The reasons for this indifference are many, 
and some are valid and some are not. The 
weakness of many mothers, the number of 
little ones, the multitude of household duties, 
the incompetency of servants, the care and 
worry incident to domestic economy and a 
hundred others are good reasons. If there 
were indifference in such homes w r e would not 
wonder. But we do wonder sometimes how 
mothers with so much to think about, to do 
and to annoy keep their children so neat and 
tidy and train them so well. 

There are other reasons, however, that are 

I2 5 



126 As Ithers See Us. 

not so good to account for this indifference, 
and one is excessive love for the canine species. 
No one likes this kind of quadruped better than 
I. Of the dumb creatures the horse stands 
first in my regard and the dog second. But I 
like each in his place. When the dog is pet- 
ted and fondled and the child neglected, I say 
down with the dog. When I see a little bunch 
of animated wool walking along the street at- 
tached to a little chain and the other end of 
the chain grasped by a dainty feminine hand ; 
and when I see a little babe from morning till 
night in the training of a young ignorant Afri- 
can nurse ; — well, I'll not tell you what I think, 
but I don't think that " the hand that leads 
the pup rules the world." 

Novel-reading and social duties also produce 
indifference. I am pleading for the little ones 
who cannot speak for themselves, but who 
will speak in the years that are to come when 
they look back and realize the effect of wrong 
training or no training, and I say that a mother's 
duties are first of all to her home and children, 
and when these are accomplished, if she has any 
time for fiction or society, well. The right 
training of those little ones is her life-work, and 
she should never neglect them for the sake of 
pleasure. Her greatest delight should be in 



Parental Indifference. 127 

studying their nature, the laws of their growth 
and their different temperaments and disposi- 
tions, and in trying to develop their characters 
beautifully and harmoniously. Her little ones 
should form her flower garden and among them 
she should find her purest pleasures and sweet- 
est joys. Children should be first, and then 
if any time is left, let fun, fashion, fiction and 
sweet little Fido come in. 



PARENTAL INDULGENCE. 

This may seem a very little fault, but it is 
far-reaching in its consequences. What ap- 
pears a kindness in childhood, in the light of 
later developments, sometimes proves a curse. 
This is one of the most insidious of faults, in- 
sidious because it comes in the garb of a virtue. 
In the olden time, children were not exactly 
sons and daughters, but a sort of slaves, and 
we can hardly call them sons and daughters 
now, but rather masters. To-day they are " cir- 
cumstances, M so to speak, *' over which few 
parents have much control." In the past parents 
ruled. At present that verb has to be put in 
the passive voice : they are ruled. Then they 
were too strict, now they are too indulgent. 
The pendulum never stops in the center. It 
is always swinging, and - goes either to one 
extreme or the other. 

Fear is a bad weapon with which to rule. It 
is the whip in the hand of the taskmaster, and 
produces not freemen but slaves. It is a nega- 
tive restraining influence, and cannot possibly 
128 



Parental Indulgence. I2Q 

produce the highest type of character. Love 
likewise is a dangerous weapon. It grants lib- 
erty which ofttimes degenerates into license. 
When, however, it is held in check by firmness 
and guided by wisdom, it is the ideal means of 
ruling either childhood or manhood. In the 
past children were ruled by fear. Now they 
are ruled by love minus firmness, and I don't 
know which is the worse. The one tends to a 
spirit of slavery, the other to a spirit of an- 
archy. The one puts on undue restraint, the 
other throws off all restraint. A good deal that 
bears the name of love is simply vapid senti- 
mentality. Sentimentality is the supple willow 
bending in this direction and that, according to 
the whims and caprices of the child. Love is 
the sturdy oak, gentle but firm. Sentimentality 
strives to please the child. Love tries to do 
what is best for it, despite its wishes. If our 
heavenly Father were like some parents, what 
in the world would become of us? Does he 
not often thwart our desires and make things 
v/ork together for our good rather than for our 
pleasure? The ideal earthly parent is like the 
heavenly Parent. He chooses rather to deny 
his child some things, for he has respect unto 
the recompense of the reward, and shows more 
real love in withholding than in granting. Love 
9 



130 As Ithers See Us. 

should always be tempered by wisdom and 
firmness. But how often are these two quali- 
ties lacking! How many persons are blind to 
consequences, and weakly yield, and thus spoil 
their children ? How I pity the indulged child ! 
What a rude awakening it will have some day 
when it comes in contact with the world and 
finds that it must curb its desires and respect 
the rights of others ! Poor little thing, for 
every drop of pleasure its indulgence gives it 
now, it will have to drink a whole cup of chagrin 
and regret in the days that are to come ! 
Would that parents realized this ! Would that 
they had foresight enough to see the harvest 
their children must reap ! Would that those 
who indulge their little ones' every desire and 
whim could understand that, instead of being 
good to them, they were weaving for their heads 
crowns of sharpest thorns ! 



INCONSISTENCY OF MANNER. 

It is difficult to find an appropriate name 
for this fault. It is nevertheless, however, 
a real one. It is the hypocrisy of social in- 
tercourse. Being one thing at home and 
another thing away from home. The very per- 
sonification of good nature in society, but 
irritable and fault-finding in the home circle. 
Some people's home manners and company 
manners are as different as their clothes, and 
they can change them with even more ease. 

In the house of a friend they dismiss annoy- 
ances and inconveniences with a smile, while at 
home such things often provoke an outburst of 
anger or irritation. Sometimes we find men 
who are exceedingly agreeable to every one 
except their own wives. And now and then we 
find women who are smiling roses away from 
home, but in the domestic bower lay aside all 
their fragrant petals and display only their 
thorns. This should not be. All the sweet 
courtesies should be practised at home. A 
husband should be as anxious to please and 

I3 1 



132 As Ithers See Us. 

as willing to be pleased by his own fireside as 
in a neighbor's house. A wife should be as in- 
tent upon making things comfortable every day 
for her family as on set days for her guests. 
And children should be as kind, polite and 
obliging behind the curtain of domestic life, 
when there is no eye to see or ear to hear but 
mother's, as on dress parade. All those little 
graces of kindness and consideration should 
shine when in the nest as well as when on the 
wing. 

Now the cause of this trouble is not lack of 
affection perhaps, but an unwillingness to mani- 
fest it. One writer said : " I am one of those 
whose lot has been to go out into an unfriendly 
world at^n early age ; and of nearly twenty 
families in which I made my home in the course 
of about nine years, there were only three that 
could be designated as happy families. The 
cause of the trouble was not so much the lack 
of love as the lack of care to manifest it." It 
is not enough for love to be in the heart, it 
must also shine through a smiling, happy face 
and be expressed in kind word and helpful deed. 
Expression will add fuel to the flame and cause 
the affection for loved ones to burn more 
brightly. At home especially regard should 
not be taken for granted, but be clearly dis- 



Inconsistency of Manner. 133 

played in its many little artless ways. Hus- 
bands, if you really love your wives, tell them 
so, not once but a thousand times. Show them 
all those sweet little attentions and courtesies 
that you did in former days. Make your whole 
married life a beautiful, romantic courtship. 
Wives, reciprocate this in every way. Be not 
careless in your personal appearance. Be as 
sweet and captivating as when you were blush- 
ing maidens. Neglect none of those arts and 
graces that made you once so charming. Make 
home above all others the place where the 
thoughtful courtesies of life are practised. 
And then it will indeed be a school of culture 
and a haven of rest and happiness. But how 
often is it just the opposite ! How ften do 
cheerfulness and smiling gallantry diSc^pear at 
its threshold ! How often are gentleness, sun- 
shine and sympathy laid aside with the silken 
veil ! What a wonderful difference fn manner 
and speech you often find between young 
people in Rome and young people at home ! 
Why, home should be the brightest cheeriest 
spot on earth. Whatsoever things are pure 
and lovely should be there. No cross word, 
no petty dissension should be allowed to enter 
its portal and make discord in the music of its 
life. 



DECADENCE OF FAMILY WORSHIP. 

ANOTHER fault in the home is the gradual 
disappearance of that old-time custom of family- 
worship. No more beautiful sight is presented 
to the human eye than a family in the quiet 
of eventide kneeling in unbroken circle. No 
more acceptable and sincere prayer ever comes 
from human lips than that which a saintly 
father offers at the altar of domestic worship. 
And among the influences that bring men back 
to the paths of virtue is the recurrence of this 
scene and the remembrance of these prayers. 
The church in the home is the secret of the 
success of the church on the hillside. The 
scriptural teaching of the parents makes the 
work of the preacher and Sunday-school teacher 
easy and delightful. A childhood spent in the 
atmosphere of sweet devotion produces a love 
for the good and fills the life with sacred mem- 
ories and hallowed associations. If during the 
early years when habits are formed and charac- 
ters shaped the heart be given an upward bent, 
then man's path becomes as the shining light 
*34 



Decadence of Family Worship. 135 

that shineth more and more unto the perfect 
day. If one of our first remembrances be the 
bowed head and the voice of prayer, however 
far we may wander away, they will still be with 
us and be angeL hands to draw us back to the 
purity and piety of home. 

Methinks I can see a dusty traveler seated 
upon a grassy slope and drinking in the beauty 
of the scene that lies spread out at his feet. In 
the midst of it there flows a river fringed with 
willow and glittering like a ribbon of silver. 
Beyond it a highway winds along trodden 
smooth by the hoof of travel, and from this a 
byway diverges and leads up to a modest man- 
sion nestled among the elms. From one of its 
chimneys the smoke is curling, welcome har- 
binger of the noontide meal. In the door 
stands a well-known beloved form, and from the 
lawn beneath the trees come happy, childish 
voices. On the roof of the barn near by the 
pigeons are playing, and around its top the 
swallows are gaily circling. The blossoms in 
the orchard beyond fulfilled their promises and 
the trees are now heavily laden with fruit grow- 
ing striped and mellow beneath the kisses of 
June. And around all this there are fields of 
corn growing taller day by day under the genial 
influence of sun and shower ; fields of wheat 



136 As Ithers See Us. 

like fields covered with waving cloths of gold ; 
meadows green bordered with hedges and be- 
decked with daisies and vocal with the song of 
the lark and the whistle of the quail. On the 
hillside yonder the cattle are peacefully graz- 
ing. Beneath the trees the horses are lazily 
resting, stamping now and them to frighten 
away some meddlesome fly. And down by the 
brook the lambs are gamboling and dancing to 
the music of its murmuring. A beautiful scene 
indeed, but more beautiful to the traveler be- 
cause of its associations. As he surveys it the 
smoke rises and forms a bow of peace and prom- 
ise, and on it he imagines he can see written 
the magical word " home." 

Years ago as a boy he had played on that 
lawn, fished in that stream and worked in those 
fields. He had gathered fruit in that orchard, 
hunted for eggs in that old barn, and on his 
pretty prancing filly galloped along that shady 
lane. He knew every corner of the place, and 
every tree and every nook had its associations. 
Since those sweet, innocent days he had roamed 
in other lands a wanderer and a prodigal. He 
had spent his substance and strength in riotous 
living. One day he came to himself. Some- 
thing brought back the remembrance of bygone 
years, He thought of a pleasant home and a 



Decadence of Family Worship. 137 

loving mother in a beautiful valley far away. 
And he arose nor rested until he sat wearily 
upon that well-known hill-top and feasted his 
eyes upon that loved spot. Aye, make home 
what it should be, and no matter how far we 
may wander it will finally draw us back. 



SUCCESS. 

The word luck still has a place in our vocab- 
ulary, but in this enlightened age it has lost 
most of its ancient significance. The believers 
in luck are fast becoming believers in law. 
They are realizing that what they mistook for 
blind chance is a real cause. Luck is the old 
superstition that things do not happen accord- 
ing to the dictates of law, but by accident. It 
is the belief that the star under which one is 
born determines his success and not his talents 
and efforts. In other words, it is the doctrine 
of predestination applied to temporal affairs. 
Some seem to be foreordained to be lucky and 
successful, regardless of what they do, and 
others foreordained to be failures, no matter in 
what they engage or how they work. 

This is all wrong. There is no such thing as 
luck. It is an effect without a cause, and such 
a thing is unknown. The law of every kingdom 
of the universe is " as we sow so shall we reap." 
If a man is successful it is not because of blind 
chance, but the result of applying, whether con- 
*38 



Success. 139 

sciously or unconsciously, the right means to 
the end in view. And if a man fails it is not 
because the goddess of fortune is angry with 
him, but the result of misadjustment of means 
to ends. 

After all, it is not luck but pluck that wins. 
It is not haphazard effort but systematic obe- 
dience to law that achieves success. The 
violation of law is the cause of all the trouble 
in the world. And universal obedience to 
law in every sphere would make every one 
successful. The better we obey the laws of 
Hygiene the better health we have. The better 
we obey the laws of Psychology the better 
education we have. The better we obey the 
laws of the Decalogue the more peace and happi- 
ness we have. Success is simply moral, finan- 
cial, intellectual health; and has certain clearly 
defined laws which must be obeyed if it is to 
be attained. To the eye of the ordinary on- 
looker success may appear the result of luck 
and failure the result of blind misfortune, but 
to the eye of the student of men and things, 
they are both the effects of as real causes as is 
the flower or the tree. The task assigned to 
us here is to point out some of the causes of 
failure. 



PROCRASTINATION. 

THERE is a place and a purpose for every- 
thing, and it is none the less true that there is 
a time. The conjunction of the right thing at 
the right time in the right place is called oppor- 
tunity. The opportunity belongs to the man 
who is on the appointed spot at the appointed 
hour. This charming nymph welcomes with a 
winning smile her punctual lover, while lazy 
loiterers, ten minutes behind, stand with eyes 
astare and mouths agape, watching with chagrin 
this happy couple move off together. Placing 
opportunities before such procrastinators is 
like casting pearls before swine. They reck- 
lessly disregard them and foolishly think that 
any time will do as well as now. They do not 
seem to realize that " the mill never grinds with 
the water that is past/' and that " by the street 
of By-and by one arrives at the house of Never." 
They do not seem to grasp the thought that 
" there is a tide in the affairs of men which, 
taken at its flood, leads on to fortune, neglected 
and all their future is found in miseries and in 
shallows/' Such people would do well to re- 
140 



Procrastination. 141 

member that " whilst we are considering when 
to begin, it is often too late to act," and that 
" on the great clock of time there is but one 
word — now." It is because the heavenly bodies 
are always on time, even to the millionth part 
of a second, that there is such harmony among 
the spheres. And it is because some men in 
the business world always " take the instant 
by the foretop," and meet every engagement to 
the minute and perform every task within the 
appointed hour, that they are so successful. 

There are many things in life that cannot be 
postponed. The time to strike is when the iron 
is hot, and while the sun is shining is the time 
to make hay. " Grasp the skirts of happy 
chance " as it passes by. Now is the accepted 
time to perform the duties at our hand. Each 
day has its work, and it is foolish to heap upon 
the future's already burdened shoulders the 
task of the present hour. It is well neither to 
lend to-morrow's duties nor to borrow to-mor- 
row's troubles. We should live a day at a time 
both as regards labor and care. Each evening 
we should balance the book and strive to have 
nothing in the shape of unfinished task or use- 
less regret to carry over to the following page. 

Procrastination is the insidious but potent 
cause of many a failure in life. Some one has 



142 As Ithers See Us. 

graphically said, " Opportunity has a lock in 
front, but is bald behind. Catch it as it comes, 
or forever lose it." It has that by which we 
may lay hold and be carried on to success ; 
but let the important moment pass, and, like a 
disappointed traveler whose train moves off as 
he approaches, we find that we are just in time 
to be too late. When opportunity approaches, 
it is a messenger of hope, but when it passes 
unused and unimproved, it leaves behind a 
sense of helplessness and regret. Procrastina- 
tion truly is the thief of time, and a far worse 
one than he who steals our purse. Time is one 
of the most precious possessions that we have. 
It is the sine quanon of everything we may ob- 
tain or become. Without it, wealth, position, 
pleasure and fame are nothing. One royal 
heart exclaimed, " My kingdom for an inch of 
time ; " and how many others, when the sands 
of life are all run out, would give their all for 
a day, or even for an hour. Each one is 
allotted a certain amount, and that allowance 
is growing less and less every day. At most, 
we have little enough time to fulfil our mission 
in the world. Let us, then, see to it that it is 
not squandered by procrastination. If we wish 
to succeed, we must henceforth turn a deaf ear 
to this siren's deceptive voice. 



Procrastination. 143 

Procrastination is the father of good resolu- 
tions. We soothe the conscience for present 
delinquencies by making pleasing promises. 
We take sure aim, but are too indolent to 
fire. We resolve again and again, but do 
not follow it with execution. The path to 
failure — yea to perdition — is paved with good 
resolutions. Uncle Toby, one of Holmes* 
characters, threatened to oil the latch of his 
door for forty years. Its creaking was a con- 
stant annoyance to him. He died, however, 
without doing it. I am going to break off 
this bad habit, to overcome this weakness, 
to accomplish this purpose, and yet years come 
and go and we are still " a-going to." Men 
thus waste their time and opportunities, and 
then ask in surprise why others succeed and 
they fail. A blind man could tell them the 
reason. If they would make fewer resolutions 
and keep more ; if they would kill less time in 
telling what they are going to do, and spend 
this time and energy in action, they would suc- 
ceed better. • If they would perform every duty 
as it came to their hand without waiting for a 
more convenient season, they would find in a 
short time a wonderful change in their affairs. 



INDECISION. 

NOT being able to decide what to do. With- 
out plan or method to arrange and guide our 
work. Hesitation with arms akimbo standing 
in the midst of " confusion worse confounded." 
Helpless distraction with folded hands and two 
notions to do this and three to do that, slowly 
making up its mind while the glorious morning 
hours are rolling by. Before indecision can act 
the opportunity is gone ; before it can shoot, 
the bird has flown. Deserving of commisera- 
tion, indeed, is he who has to battle with this 
trouble. 

Procrastination is due to weakness of will, 
indecision to weakness of judgment. Procras- 
tination is knowing what to do but putting it 
off till to-morrow ; indecision is halting between 
two opinions. I don't know which is the more 
detrimental to success. One says, " I'll do it 
next week," and then spends the day in pleasure 
and dissipation. The other with knitted brow 
spends the day in the chair of vacillation 
trying to decide what to do. The energetic 
worker, however, knows what he is going to 
144 



Indecision. 145 

do the night before, and rises with the sun 
and has it finished while this one is putting 
it off and that one thinking about it. Then 
these two gentlemen get together and say how 
is it that he succeeds and we not? Blind to 
their own faults, they fall back on the old ex- 
planation that he is simply a lucky fellow. 

Indecision is indeed a terrible state of mind 
in which to be, and ofttimes costs us more time, 
anxiety and real labor than the execution of 
choice after it is made. How often do we hear 
the cry, " Oh, if I only knew just what to do, 
it wouldn't take me long to do it ! If I could 
only decide, the rest would be easy ! " I pity 
such people. They are very much handi- 
capped in the race of life, for which in the 
main they are not responsible. This condition 
of mind is not their fault, but their misfortune, 
and is due partly to heredity and partly to early 
practice. It could have been overcome had 
they received the proper training in childhood, 
and by persistent attention can in a great 
measure be overcome now. The remedy for it 
is prudently and carefully to plan your work, 
and then stick closely to your plan and go 
ahead. I know the human mind ordinarily 
rebels against system. It wants to be free 
to follow its own- sweet will. But if this is 
10 



146 As Ithers See Us. 

allowed liberty soon degenerates into license, 
our work becomes haphazard, and at every step 
of the way a choice has to be made ; and to do 
this when the mind is tired or preoccupied, 
will result either in rashness or indecision. 
Better be somewhat of a slave to system than 
a distracted halter between two opinions. 



DISSIPATION. 

TRYING to do too many things at once is a 
grave fault. The man at the forge says if you 
have too many irons in the fire some are sure 
to burn. The man at the bench makes this 
sage observation : " A jack of all trades is a 
master of none." There is a limit to human 
ability and endurance, and under present con- 
ditions it is almost impossible for the ordinary 
mortal to be successful in more than one thing. 
Man must resign himself to the fact that omnip- 
otence and omniscience are attributes beyond 
his attainment. He who attempts to circumnav- 
igate everything accomplishes nothing. Dis- 
persion is weakness, concentration is power. 
Steam confined and concentrated at one place 
is mighty, but unconfined it is worthless. 
Light focussed at a single point is powerful, 
and beneath its burning kiss there instantly 
leaps a tongue of flame, but dispersed it loses 
its force. Electricity stored and directed in a 
certain way becomes man's silent messenger 

i47 



148 As Ithers See Us. 

and invisible steed, unconfined it is useless for 
our purpose. We are machines wonderfully 
made and charged with life and energy, and 
our success depends upon the way we expend 
th^t energy. If we waste it on every new thing 
strikes our fancy, working only so long as 
attraction of novelty lasts, and then turn- 
g our attention to something else, we will 
xcomplish little. But if we turn all this force 
into one channel and keep it there, the gates 
of failure cannot possibly prevail against us. 
^aul's motto was " This one thing I do." Pax- 
ton Hood said, "Lord, help me to take fewer 
things into my hands, and do them well." 
" The weakest living creature," says Carlyle, 
" by concentrating his powers on a single object 
can accomplish something ; whereas the strong- 
est, by dispersing his over many, may fail to 
accomplish anything. The drop, by contin- 
ually falling, bores its passage through the hard- 
est rock. The hasty torrent rushes over it with 
hideous uproar and leaves no trace behind." 
Cardinal Richelieu said, " When I have once 
taken a resolution, I go straight to my aim ; I 
overthrow all, I cut down all." Concentrated 
energy is the chief secret of success. Knowing 
a little of everything, not much of anything, is 
the passport to failure. A man in London had 



Dissipation 149 

this sign above his door : " Goods removed 
messages taken, carpets beaten, and poetry 
composed on any subject. " Now, while such 
a versatile one is a curiosity, still his gifts are 
so much dead capital in the business of 1:f " 
and inevitably pave the path to povc 
Specialization is the keynote of the pre^ 
hour. 

We should select that field of labor for which 
our tastes and talents fit us, a work to which 
we should not be urged by mere will-power, 
but by our love for it — for we do those thing? 
best that we like best — and when the choice is' 
made, then victory or death. How few people 
comparatively have a purpose in life, and are 
bending all their energies for its accomplish- 
ment. We see so much purposeless action 
everywhere. Labor and time are spent simply 
to while away the hours. So much of our read- 
ing, study and work is desultory, here a little 
and there a little, a taste of this and a smat- 
tering of that and a glance at the other, entirely 
purposeless and therefore worthless. Remem- 
ber that singleness of aim and concentration 
of energy spell out the combination on the 
portal of success. Attain these and you may 
enter in and possess the treasures reserved for 
the faithful. 



150 As Ithers See Us. 

" The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one, 
May hope to achieve it before life be done ; 
But he who seeks all things wherever he goes, 
Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows 
A harvest of barren regrets." 



IMMOBILITY. 

Another fault very productive of failure is 
what is known in Economics as the immobility 
of labor. It is the natural tendency of human 
nature to squander time between tasks. Some- 
how man likes to punctuate his little jobs with 
long periods of rest. It seems the attraction 
of gravitation is stronger than the novelty of 
the next piece of work. When one thing is 
done, instead of proceeding immediately to the 
next, and doing that and then to the next, 
ordinary humanity sits down and folds its hands 
for a while ; and ofttimes more time is spent in 
these intervals of transition than in actual labor. 
More days are spent in hunting for a job and 
in resting after a job than are consumed by the 
job. If you examine the lives of people you 
will find that their labors stand out as hillocks 
in the midst of long barren plains of inactivity. 
Ordinarily man is slow in moving to " ye nexte 
thing." 

Now this is a serious fault and a great hin- 
drance to success. All one gains by hard work 

*5* 



152 As Ithers See Us. 

he loses by this period of idleness. Intermittent 
labor is not the kind that accomplishes great re- 
sults. It was not the impulsive hare but the 
steady terrapin that won the race. So it is not 
the short rush and long rest, but the slow, con- 
stant movement that counts in the business of 
life. 

Of course man must have some rest, but 
nature has provided for that necessity. When 
he has worked lone enough she draws down the 
curtain of darkness to stop him. Then she 
administers the sweet cordial of sleep to recu- 
perate his powers. When he has had sufficient 
repose she lifts the curtain, and as the beams 
of the morning sun kiss his cheeks, he is awak- 
ened by the carols of the birds and told to go 
to work. Now, in order that he may succeed 
he must not spend half of his working hours in 
sleeping between tasks. He must make the 
intervals between duties as short as possible, 
and must move with the celerity of the bee 
from flower to flower. 



INCOMPLETION. 

" Belubedfellow-trabelers, in preachin' for to-day, 

[ doesn't quote no special varse for what I has ter say, 
De sermon will be bery short, and dis here am de text : 
Dat half-way doin's ain't no 'count for dis worl' nor de next." 

This text is found in the first verse of the 
first chapter of the book of ordinary, every- 
day common sense. It is printed in type large 
enough to catch the eye of the most casual 
observer. It is a truth plain enough for the 
ordinary wayfarer, though a fool, not to err 
therein. And yet hundreds and thousands of 
people seem never to have read it. It is one 
of the self-evident propositions of practical life, 
and yet multitudes of men and women pursue 
the uneven tenor of their way in a slip-shod, 
don't-care manner, doing everything by halves 
and never experiencing the delicious pleasure of 
doing anything well. 

Now for such deluded unfortunates I have a 
very emphatic message, and it is this, " Half- 
way doin's ain't no 'count." A thing half-made 
may be a sort of cheap substitute for nothing, 

*53 



154 As Ithers See Us. 

but it is really worthless. A task half-done is 
like an unturned cake, the last state is worse 
than the first. A duty performed in an indif- 
ferent, haphazard way is better off untouched. 
" Things done by halves are never done right/' 
and are everywhere and always a thorn in the 
flesh of system and accuracy. To make a per- 
manent thing after the pattern of a temporary 
expedient is so much time and energy thrown 
away. The path of life is strewn with wrecks 
of the imperfect and unfinished, stumbling- 
blocks and eyesores to the strong, and per- 
petual reminders to the weak of the fact that 
" half-way doin's ain't no 'count." How long 
will it take us to realize that " anything that 
is worth doing at all is worth doing well!" 
How long will it take us to discover that it is 
better to do one thing perfectly than to begin 
and never complete ten ! It is said of Coleridge 
that he left behind him above forty thousand 
treatises on metaphysics and divinity — not one 
of them complete. The world is filled with 
rubbish of things begun and never finished. 
Very few comparatively enjoy the exquisite 
pleasure of putting the crown of completion 
upon a piece of work. People rich in ideas but 
weak in will begin a dozen things a day, and 
yet when evening comes cannot boast of even 



Incompletion. 155 

one accomplished. It is needless to say that 
such a disposition is the cause of many a fail- 
ure. We sometimes wonder why so many 
really industrious people do not prosper. 
They are busy as bees from morning till night. 
Not a moment do they waste in idleness or 
frivolity. The reason often is u there is much 
ado about nothing.'* Without a definite 
purpose to guide, filled with impractical, con- 
flicting notions, their whole life is simply one 
of beginnings and " half-way doin's." I know 
a man who is sadly afflicted with this trouble. 
He is the innocent laughing-stock of the com- 
munity in which he lives. He never was 
known to do anything well or finish anything 
he began. He built a house for himself and 
painted about tw r o square feet of the gable and 
stopped. He framed the porch and left it in 
that condition for five years, laying a two-inch 
board from the front door to the porch sill and 
going in and out on that in the meantime. He 
put up what he called a shop, and for an un- 
completed crazy curiosity it would take the 
premium anywhere. It still stands in that 
community, a decaying but striking monument 
to half-way doin's. And yet that man is a me- 
chanical genius. He has an inventive turn of 
mind and can make almost anything he wants. 



156 As Ithers See Us. 

But because of this unfortunate characteristic 
of doing everything by halves, of never finish- 
ing anything, his labor and time are lost, and 
he has become about the most successful 
failure I have ever met. Hearken then, my 
reader, to the colored brother, and be not only 
hearers but doers. " Half-way doin's ain't no 
'count." 



VACILLATION. 

This is a wavering, inconstant attitude. It 
is that attribute of mind and matter which 
makes them respond to every influence. The 
weather-vane turned this way and that by every 
wind that blows, the plastic clay shaped and 
fashioned by every hand that touches it, are 
practical illustrations of this fault. 

" Look as I blow this feather from my face, 
And as the air blows it to me again ; 
Obeying with my wind when I do blow, 
And yielding to another when it blows ; 
Commanded always by the greater gust ; 
Such is the lightness of you common men." 

Where there is much vacillation there is little 
character. It is an evidence of weakness of 
will and perhaps of lack' of principle. People 
possessing this quality are the veriest toys and 
playthings of circumstances. While the per- 
son of character is moved and guided from 
within, the vacillating one is at the beck and 
bidding of things without. The latter is like 

*57 



158 As Ithers See Us. 

the cork upon the water drifting with the waves 
and circling with the tide, while the former is 
like the man-of-war breasting the opposing 
billows and marking a straight path from shore 
to shore. 

The man of character is a man of principle 
and is ever the same. You always know where 
he is and how he stands. You can safely pre- 
dict what he will do under any given set of 
circumstances. His principles form the track 
for his conduct, and they guide him as truly 
as the rails do the engine. His actions are de- 
termined by his conscience and not by the likes 
or dislikes of his fellow-men. His conscience 
is regulated by the dictates of divine truth, 
and not by the opinions of the world. And 
his deeds are performed with an eye single to 
the glory of God and not to be seen of men. 

The man of policy is different. Conformity is 
a striking characteristic of his nature. Chame- 
leon-like he can change his colors to suit all 
eyes, and " frame his face for all occasions." 
His views and opinions are like his clothes ; 
he can easily change them to suit his purposes 
and his company. To become all things to all 
men, is his object, heedless of what it may cost. 
With a wise grimace and an easy grace he 
conforms to others, while the man of character 



Vacillation. 159 

is unwavering and will stand by his convictions 
though the heavens fall. 

The man of vacillation, however, differs 
from both of these. The policy-man con- 
forms for a purpose. He stoops that he may 
conquer. He is strong enough but kicks con- 
science, while the vacillating one may be good 
at heart and simply weak in will. He is one 
of those credulous people who trust every- 
body and believe everything. He hasn't the 
same purpose two days in succession. His 
views as to religion and politics change regularly 
with the moon. What he says to-day he will 
contradict to-morrow. In a discussion he 
agrees with each speaker in turn. Devoid of 
ability to think for himself, he becomes the 
smiling, innocent tool of others. Without 
pilot or compass he is a helpless barque tossed 
about on the sea of life. Being credulous, he 
is tricked by every traveling mountebank. 
Not having the power to say no, he becomes 
a sort of universal donkey, not at all appre- 
ciated for what he does, but ridiculed for his 
stupidity. 

Such an one indeed is to be pitied. To him 
the gates of success will never open. One had 
better be obstinate than " anything you please." 
He had better be a prejudiced bigot than a 



160 . As Ithers See Us. 

vacillating doubter. To have any sort of 
character at all, we must have something to 
hold fast to whether it be false or true. An 
anchor and a rudder are indispensable. 



SELF-CONTROL. 

" He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh 
a city." — Prov. xvi. 32. 

" Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, 
These three alone lead life to sovereign power." 

THE word great has many attractions for 
man, and he is naturally desirous to have it as 
one of the adjectives before his name. The 
thirst for fame is as strong as the thirst for 
rum and as hard to satisfy. The ambitious 
person is as restless as the caged.lion, and is 
not content to be of the many one, but wants 
to rise until he stands as one over the many. 

Every man, however, cannot do this. While 

the path to greatness is open to all, the fact 

remains that only the few reach the goal. 

Some have ten talents, some five and some one ; 

and it is not reasonable to suppose that the man 

with one will accomplish as much as the man 

with ten, unless he supplement his limited 

ability with a great deal of energy and perse- 
11 161 



1 62 As Ithers See Us. 

verance. In actual life we know that where one 
succeeds many fail. We have, I admit, much 
more power than we think we have, as the emer- 
gencies of life show. A horse tethered to a 
post does not realize his strength until some 
fright awakens it and causes him to snap the 
rein as though it were a spider's web. So with 
us, under the influence of mighty emotions 
we accomplish feats that in calmer moments 
seem absolutely impossible. In each one there 
is the latent strength of ten, but it is seldom 
we come in contact with the proper stimuli 
to awaken it. But notwithstanding this, there 
are some things that we really cannot do, and 
it is a happy day in one's life when he realizes 
this truth. It is not in accordance with the 
natural order of things for every one to be a 
Napoleon. Greatness in this sense is a crown 
that only the few can gain. 

But there is greatness and there is greatness. 
There is an evanescent greatness which is the 
afterglow from what a man does. And there 
is an intrinsic greatness which is found in what 
a man is. In this second way, not the few but 
all may be great. And the golden key to this 
temple of greatness is simply self-control. We 
say that man is great who is not controlled by, 
but who controls, circumstances. 



Self -Control. 163 

u A divinely gifted man 
Whose life in low estate began, 
And on a simple village green; 
Yet breaks his birth's invidious bar, 
And grasps the skirts of happy chance, 
And breasts the blows of circumstance, 
And grapples with his evil star." 

But then he is greater who controls not only 
external but also internal affairs ; who makes 
his tongue, temper and passion servants and 
not masters, and like the centurion says to one 
do this, and he doeth it. Such a person is the 
only one who can lay claim to real greatness. 
He may not be known outside his own family 
or community, and yet he is far greater than 
those whose names shine on the scroll of fame. 
Not he who rules the world but he who rules 
himself is entitled to this honor. Self-control, 
and not wealth or fame or power is the index of 
greatness. That man is the only real king who is 
king over himself, who makes every purpose 
and passion subservient to his will. How many, 
however, abdicate in favor of some tyrannical 
pretender and place mammon or lust or rum 
upon the throne of their being ! How many 
there are who can take cities and wield the 
scepter of temporal power, and yet cannot con- 
trol themselves ! 

But what is self-control? Let us go some- 



164 As Ithers See Us. 

what into the philosophy of this matter. Let 
us consider briefly the different parts of man's 
mental and moral make-up, and perhaps this 
will throw some light on the subject. 

In every machine there is a motive power, a 
guiding power and a governing power. Take 
for instance an engine. The steam moves it, 
the rails guide it, and the engineer governs it. 
With his hand upon the lever and his eye upon 
the track, this grimy son of toil occupies a place 
of the greatest responsibility. The safety of 
that load of human freight is in his hands. He 
alone is master of the situation. So long as he 
stands at his post, obeys his orders, and gov- 
erns his engine, all is well ; but when the steam 
takes the matter in hand there is danger. Now, 
man is a machine, fearfully and wonderfully 
made. In him there is also a motive power, a 
guiding power, and a governing power. Each 
has its special work to do, and when all work 
together in unity there is harmony. But when 
one goes out of its sphere and usurps the func- 
tion of another, there is discord, wreck, and 
ruin. 

The motive power, the spring of action in 
man, is found in his desires and affections. 
These are the steam and electricity of his being 
and push him along the beaten track of life. 



Self-Control. 165 

They furnish energy to his feet and hands and 
activity to his brain. He is hungry, and this 
desire drives him in search of food ; thirsty, 
and it leads him from valley to valley till he 
finds the fountain ; avaricious, and it makes him 
a miser ; benevolent, and it makes him a philan- 
thropist ; patriotic, and it makes him the 
guardian of the nation's safety and honor. He 
loves his wife and children, and because of this 
he builds a house and becomes its support and 
joy. He thirsts for influence and eminence, and 
this leads him to climb the steeps of fame and 
power. Or, on the other hand, the lower pas- 
sions seize him and, like a lamb led to the 
slaughter, lead him down to the haunts of vice, 
and finally leave him a piece of putrid clay in 
the ditch of degradation. His desires and 
affections, be they good or bad, furnish the 
motive power to his being. 

But power alone is worthless. The world is 
full of power, but the ignorant savage is none 
the better for it. The prairie is covered with 
wild horses but they are of no use to the child. 
Power, like the horse, must be harnessed and 
directed to be of worth, and not only directed, 
but rightly directed. Misdirected action is 
worse than no action at all. To be useful to 
man steam and electricity must be confined and 



166 As Ithers See Us. 

controlled by intelligence. And if man is to 
accomplish the purpose of his Creator, his 
desires must be curbed and directed in the 
same way. They are the white steeds that pull 
the chariot of his character through the world, 
and it is quite necessary to have some lines on 
them. 

Now, generally speaking, man's action is 
guided by his intellect. His reason says this 
is the way, walk ye in it, and whether enlight- 
ened or unenlightened this is his guide and he 
must follow it. We must follow the light we 
have, if we don't we sin. It is our law and by 
it we will be judged. Really it is not wrong 
to eat meat offered to idols, but if a man thinks 
it is wrong and yet does it, he sins. He who 
voluntarily disobeys the promptings of his con- 
science does wrong. From this we can easily 
see how two people can do the same act and 
one sin and the other not. Our conscience is 
our watch and we must follow it, but we should 
not forget to regulate it occasionally by the 
sun of truth and righteousness. And from this 
we can also see how a man may do the same 
act two successive days and sin the first and not 
the second. Our intellect then is our guide. 

This guide, however, is called by different 
names according as it has to deal with different 



Self-Control. 167 

kinds of action. In questions pertaining to the 
prudent and imprudent, the advantageous and 
disadvantageous, the expedient and inexpedi- 
ent, we have what is known as common sense 
as our guide. It has been rightly called the 
most uncommon of the senses. One may speak 
with the tongues of men and angels, have the 
gift of prophecy and understand all mystery 
and all knowledge ; but if he have not this 
gift, he is a failure. And it is hard to get. 
The president of a college addressed a new class 
as follows : " Young men, you have come here 
seeking knowledge and you may get that. And 
some of you are desiring religion. You can 
doubtless get that too if you seek it. But if 
you lack common sense, no power in earth or 
heaven can give you that." Other names for 
this guide are discretion, prudence and tact. 
It is that worldly wisdom which directs us in 
doing the right thing at the right time, and is 
very necessary to happiness and success. 

In questions pertaining to the agreeable, the 
beautiful and the appropriate we have taste as 
our guide. This makes us have respect unto 
the eternal fitness of things. It oils the wheels 
of social intercourse, discards the blunt and dis- 
agreeable in manner and speech and produces 
harmonious and concordant relations between 



i68 As Ithers See Us. 

man and man. It has its foundation in a con- 
sideration for the opinions and feelings of others 
and in a desire to please and help them. When 
sincere it springs from a kind sympathetic spirit 
and gives dignity to the demeanor, grace to the 
manner and gentleness to the expression. In 
its quiet unofficious way it binds up the broken 
heart, charms away discouragement and awakens 
happiness and hope. Its presence produces 
an atmosphere in which all are comfortable and 
at ease, and its good nature makes the timid 
forget their embarrassment and do their best. 
Taste in this sense is a guide that should be 
followed as closely as conscience. Devoid of 
this sweet appropriate way of doing things, 
people sometimes with puritanical consciences 
do more harm than good. There is a right 
way as well as a right. We should observe 
both. 

" 'Tis chiefly taste, or blunt, or gross, or fine, 
Makes life insipid, bestial, or divine. 
Better be born with taste to little rent 
Than the dull monarch of a continent ; 
Without this bounty which the gods bestow, 
Can fortune make one favorite happy ? No." 

Then in questions pertaining to right or 
wrong we have conscience as our guide. It is 
that inward monitor which condemns the one 



Self-Control. 169 

and approves the other, that still small voice of 
the heart which is continually reminding us of 
the duties and prohibitions of the two tables of 
stone. No taskmaster is more strict while we 
labor and no mother more sweet and caressing 
at eventide when duty is faithfully done. The 
hardest pallet is soft when we have an approv- 
ing conscience ; but even a royal couch is a 
thorny bed when we have within an outraged 
spirit pointing an accusing finger. This magis- 
trate of the mind has. a regular Delaware whip- 
ping-post to which he ties the offender, and in 
the silent watches of the night lashes him with 
a whip of scorpions. This inquisitor of the soul 
has the most cruel rack ever devised for victims* 
torture and for their endless torment a worm 
that dieth not and a fire that is not quenched. 
There is no physical suffering comparable to 
the stinging sense of having done wrong. 
" There is no future pang can deal that justice 
on the self-condemned he deals on his own 
soul." On the other hand, there is no music 
sweeter than the voice of an approving con- 
science saying, " Well done, good and faithful 
servant." 

These then are the guides of human action, 
and form the track along which the car of our 
being is to roll. Or to use a different figure, 



170 As Ithers See Us. 

they are the lines by which our white chargers 
are directed. 

But horses and lines alone are not enough ; 
there must be a driver to hold the prancing 
steeds to the right course. Power is necessary. 
A guide is necessary. But there must be a 
governor to make the power follow the guide. 
Desires are necessary. Reason is necessary. 
But a will also is necessary to direct and con- 
trol them. The will is the driver in this chariot 
and he alone is responsible for its safety. He 
is the engineer on this wonderful engine, the 
mind, and if it is wrecked, it is charged to his 
account. He is the king of this internal realm 
and wields the scepter over all its passions and 
purposes. He does all the deciding, directs all 
the actions, and hence must be held responsible 
for all the trouble. Sin is not an act of the in- 
tellect or of the desires, but of the will. It is 
not wrong to be tempted, but wrong to yield. 
It is not a sin to have evil thoughts knock at 
the door of our minds, but sin to let them in, 
and like Mary sit at their feet and entertain 
them. No matter how the reason may scheme 
and for what the desires may clamor; if the 
will puts his decided veto to it, we have not 
done wrong. The will is the president. 

Self-control then is the will making the de- 



Self-Control. 171 

sires follow these different guides. In govern- 
ment there are three different branches : the 
legislative, the judicial, and the executive. 
The legislative makes the laws, the judicial in- 
terprets them, and the executive enforces them. 
We find something like this in the mind. The 
intellect is the legislative, and from study and 
experience makes certain laws and rules of ac- 
tion. Common sense, discretion and conscience 
are the judicial, and interpret them and show 
their applicability to certain individual cases. 
The will is the executive and carries these laws 
into execution. And so long as he does it there 
is self-control. But sometimes he fails. Some- 
times he is very much like a government ofifi. 
cial, he can be bought. Rum, with swaggering 
gait and insinuating smiles, approaches with 
bottle and beaded glass. Mammon, clothed in 
purple and fine linen, thrusts a tempting bribe 
into his hands. Lust, with leering look, points 
to the chamber that leads down to death. On 
all sides he is besieged by unholy desires and 
wrong purposes clamoring for charters to do 
deeds of evil, and promising in return pleasure 
and treasure. And sometimes the pressure is 
too great, the offer is too tempting, and not- 
withstanding the eloquent protests of con- 
science and common sense, he tramples the 



1 72 As Ithers See Us. 

law under foot and becomes a traitor to his 
realm. 

It is a pitiful sight indeed to see a man's will, 
a man's true self, in bondage to his desires. 
Yet how often do we see it. Not one in a hun- 
dred is able to control himself in every instance. 
So long as the will occupies the throne there is 
safety, but how often does he yield. So long 
as the strong man guards his house his goods 
are secure, but when he allows the demon of 
his lower nature to bind him hand and foot 
with the cords of evil habits, then the door of 
his heart is open to every unholy influence that 
passes by. So long as Samson retained his 
locks he was clothed with strength ; but when 
he yielded to the fascination and solicitation of 
Delilah, he was shorn of his power, lost his 
sight, and became a helpless slave. And so, so 
long as man keeps his will upon the throne, 
uncorrupted by avarice, pleasure or passion; 
so long as that will uninfluenced by desire car- 
ries out the dictates of reason and conscience ; 
in other words, so long as the executive of the 
mind carries out the sentences of the judicial, 
just so long will he retain his freedom and his 
locks of power. But let him make one conces- 
sion, let him yield in a single instance, and his 
desires, like runaway horses, will carry him 



Self -Control. 173 

whithersoever they wish. Let but one little 
drop make its way through the dike, and ere 
the morning breaks the smiling country is sub- 
merged. Let but one tiny sin burrow beneath 
the throne of the will and it is only a question 
of time when the scepter will depart from him. 
Beware then the first step in the myriad 
paths of evil, for once this is taken the rest are 
easy and the downfall sure. 

Now the will as the executive of the mind 
is to govern our whole being. Even our 
thoughts are under his control. They are 
very uncertain and erratic, I admit. They 
pop in and out of the mind like bees out of a 
hive. We never know what we are going to 
think about next. And because of this many 
people think it is impossible to control our 
thoughts, but it is not. Of course we cannot 
keep evil thoughts and suggestions from 
knocking at the gate of consciousness, but 
we need not admit them. We can drive 
them away by thinking of something good in 
their stead. If we keep our minds centered on 
things that are beautiful and true, and our hands 
engaged in doing good, these tramps and wan- 
derers of the mental world" will fold their tents 
like the Arabs and silently steal away." Two 
things cannot occupy the same space at the 



174 As Ithers See Us. 

same time. Fill the mind with the good and 
the bad is bound to be crowded out. 

This control of thought, however, is not only 
important morally, but also mentally. While 
it contributes to a pure life, it at the same time 
produces strength of mind. It develops con- 
centration, and this, and not his extra ability, 
is the secret of many a scholar's success. It 
enables him to put his mind entirely upon his 
work. . He can focus every power he has upon 
the subject in hand and keep his attention there 
for hours ; and by so doing he can accomplish 
more in a day than the listless dreamer will in 
a week. Would that this could be emphasized 
more in the schools ! Would that the mothers 
of the present day realized more fully its im- 
portance ! If the child were taught from his 
infancy to shut out every stray thought and 
put his mind wholly upon his work, what a race 
of thinkers we would soon have ! We can con- 
trol our thoughts. 

But thoughts are one thing and desires are 
another. 'Tis hard enough to control the first 
and harder still to control the second. We 
have battles every day between our duties and 
our desires. " Want to " and " ought to " are 
nearly always at daggers' points. The human 
heart is the greatest of all battle-fields. On it 



Self-Control. 175 

contest after contest is waged that the world 
knows not of. Not a day goes by but what 
there is a clash between will and conscience or 
will and desire. When we would do good evil 
is present with us. Now a man who can stand 
unmoved in the midst of all this tumult ; who 
can gratify moderately the right desires and 
crush the wrong ones ; who is strong enough 
to say to every evil suggestion and every unholy 
affection, " Get thee hence ! " — such an one has 
self-control and is greater than he that takes a 
a city. 

The warrior usually can control others 
but not himself. Alexander could conquer the 
world but not his desire for strong drink. 
Napoleon could control the legions of France 
but not his inordinate ambition. One of the 
naval officers of the recent war could command 
a fleet, but it seems he couldn't conquer his 
pride and self-interest sufficiently to treat with 
consideration the real victor and give " honor 
to whom honor was due." Moses could con- 
trol his horde of slaves but not his temper. 
Saul stood head and shoulders above the men 
of his time and was a mighty warrior, but he 
couldn't control his envy. And what shall we 
say of David, a man who could control every- 
body and everything except himself ? Surely 



176 As Ithers See Us. 

the humblest peasant with self-control is 
greater. I have seen young men who were 
brave as lions, who were afraid of nothing in 
the shape of men, who on the battle-field were 
oblivious of danger, and yet they were not 
brave enough to pass by a saloon. We read of 
men in high political positions, men who can 
blind the eyes and govern the wills of their 
fellow-men, and yet cannot control themselves 
sufficiently to meet the leering briber with an 
indignant no. They control others, themselves 
they cannot control. Nothing is truer than he 
that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that 
taketh a city. 

Now self-control is something we all desire. 
We want complete mastery over both body 
and mind. We want to be able to withstand 
temptation of w r hatever kind, calmly to meet 
obstacles and difficulties, patiently to bear 
burdens and afflictions, and with unruffled tem- 
per and unmoved lips to face provocation. We 
want to be like Stephen, who in death lifted up 
his voice in prayer for his murderers. We want 
to be like Daniel, who in the midst of his ene- 
mies without a word pursued the even tenor 
of his way. But above all we want to be like 
the Master Himself, who when He was mocked 
and ridiculed opened not His mouth. 



Self-Control. 



177 



But, however easy this may seem and how- 
ever much it may be desired, no man in his 
own strength can attain it. It takes super- 
human power to rule these downward tenden- 
cies and these sin-biased desires of our natures. 
A perverse will, a will that inherits a sympathy 
and liking for sin, cannot do it. For in this 
contest we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
but against principalities and powers, against 
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
spiritual wickedness in high places ; and if we 
would conquer we must be clad in the panoply 
of God. Therefore let us put on the whole 
armor ; the girdle of truth, the breastplate of 
righteousness, the helmet of salvation and the 
sandals of peace ; and then with the shield of 
faith in our left hand and the sword of the 
Spirit in our right, we will go forth conquering 
and to conquer. 
12 







IG S 1901 




















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